Do I ship it?

Games › Local Co-Op › Local Co-Op + Perma Death

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Local Co-Op Perma Death game?

Local Co-Op + Perma Death

Of 24 developers who shipped a Local Co-Op Perma Death game in the last 2 years: 3 in 10 made under est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method., the middle one made est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method., 1 in 4 cleared est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method., 1 in 20 cleared est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 37 more are announced, ×2.5 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $2.2k, ×4.7 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $50; 1 in 20 cleared $130k, ×283 the market median. Revenue is up 350% on the market; 37 games are announced against 15 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 4.7 times the market baseline, revenue up 350% on the market, 37 announced, ×2.5 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Local Co-Op + Perma Death
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 24
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $11k → $1.8k → $95k → $8.6k → $899 → $6.7k → $2.2k (still earning) → $0 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Local Co-Op + Perma Death: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 24
Bottom 30% $0 (exactly $0)
Median $2.2k (exactly $2,248)
Top 25% $28k (exactly $27,881)
Top 5% $135k (exactly $134,595)
Developers, 2 yr 24
Released games 94
Announced 37
Effort 4 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $7.99

momentum: how a niche's revenue percentiles and developer count moved between two equal, adjacent periods, divided by the market's own move. See method., 12 months: revenue up 350% on the market, supply 65% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 3%, excluded from money figures.

See every window in the explorer →

Plate 2 · systems and tooling

Can AI deliver it?

AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.

Local Co-Op
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
Perma Death
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
Systems
Local Co-Op, Perma Death; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Co-op, Action, Action Roguelike
Price point
$7.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
Art
5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Difficult
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.

The top 10 games average 89% positive over 5,492 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $50, median $2.2k, 1 in 4 over $27k, 1 in 20 over $130k.

3 in 10 developers made under $50. All of the 9 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 37 games are announced against 15 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.5 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Local Co-Op with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + LootStrong odds22 devs · median $7.3k · 21 announced
  2. + LGBTQ+Fair11 devs · median $14k · 12 announced
  3. + Artificial IntelligenceFair16 devs · median $11k · 15 announced
  4. + TriviaFair12 devs · median $7.5k · 13 announced
  5. + Action RPGFair68 devs · median $6.0k · 82 announced
  6. + ModernFair11 devs · median $3.6k · 10 announced
  7. + Dark FantasyFair40 devs · median $2.7k · 47 announced
  8. + Board GameFair35 devs · median $2.4k · 41 announced
  9. + Dungeon CrawlerFair49 devs · median $1.8k · 60 announced
  10. + MedievalFair46 devs · median $1.8k · 52 announced
  11. + Immersive SimFair22 devs · median $1.8k · 27 announced
  12. + Point & ClickFair12 devs · median $1.8k · 9 announced

All 151 pairs on the Local Co-Op page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Spelunky 2 2020 · $12M Spelunky 2013 · $6.6M Risk of Rain (2013) 2013 · $6.2M Nuclear Throne 2015 · $5.4M Astral Ascent 2023 · $4.1M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Spelunky 2 older $19.99 19,736 93% 592k $12M (exactly $11,835,679) Mossmouth, BlitWorks
Spelunky older $14.99 14,676 92% 440k $6.6M (exactly $6,599,797) Mossmouth
Risk of Rain (2013) older $9.99 20,768 93% 623k $6.2M (exactly $6,224,170) Hopoo Games
Nuclear Throne older $11.99 15,047 96% 451k $5.4M (exactly $5,412,406) Vlambeer
Astral Ascent older $24.99 5,408 94% 162k $4.1M (exactly $4,054,378) Hibernian Workshop
30XX older $19.99 2,514 90% 75k $1.5M (exactly $1,507,646) Batterystaple Games
Pathogenic $9.99 4,145 92% 124k $1.2M (exactly $1,242,256) Aberrant Labs
Fury Unleashed older $19.99 2,010 86% 60k $1.2M (exactly $1,205,397) Awesome Games Studio
Caveblazers older $9.99 3,416 86% 102k $1.0M (exactly $1,023,775) Deadpan Games
Spellmasons older $19.99 1,122 91% 34k $673k (exactly $672,863) Octavia Blue
Abandoned Archive $5.99 749 93% 22k $135k (exactly $134,595) Vedal
Hangtime! $9.99 250 77% 7.5k $75k (exactly $74,925) Leo Langlois
The Left Behind $10.99 116 23% 3.5k $38k (exactly $38,245) Extrude
Up to Par $19.99 49 73% 1.5k $29k (exactly $29,385) It's Anecdotal
Nullpoint Protocol $14.99 62 61% 1.9k $28k (exactly $27,881) Everbloom Games
Ammo and Oxygen $14.99 53 64% 1.6k $24k (exactly $23,834) Juvty Worlds
Threads of War $4.99 45 97% 1.4k $6.7k (exactly $6,736) KoS
Airlock Arena: Profit or Perish $11.99 12 91% 360 $4.3k (exactly $4,316) Mason Norvell, John Norvell
Sundered Soul: Chains of the Undying $7.99 11 100% 330 $2.6k (exactly $2,637) Aeoln Studios

Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.