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Should I ship a Local Co-Op Procedural Generation game?
Local Co-Op + Procedural Generation
Of 66 developers who shipped a Local Co-Op Procedural Generation 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.. 117 more are announced, ×3.2 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $900, ×1.9 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $150; 1 in 20 cleared $98k, ×208 the market median. Revenue is up 80% on the market; 117 games are announced against 37 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $150 (exactly $150) |
|---|---|
| Median | $899 (exactly $899) |
| Top 25% | $11k (exactly $11,301) |
| Top 5% | $99k (exactly $98,765) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 66 |
| Released games | 274 |
| Announced | 117 |
| 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 80% on the market, supply 30% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 8%, excluded from money figures.
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
- Procedural Generation
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
- Systems
- Local Co-Op, Procedural Generation; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Co-op, Action, Action Roguelike
- Price point
- $7.99 typical · top 25% priced $17.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $17.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.
The top 10 games average 90% positive over 7,480 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $150. Nearly all of the 31 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 117 games are announced against 37 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.2 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Local Co-Op with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + LootStrong odds
- + LGBTQ+Fair
- + Artificial IntelligenceFair
- + TriviaFair
- + Action RPGFair
- + ModernFair
- + Dark FantasyFair
- + Board GameFair
- + Dungeon CrawlerFair
- + MedievalFair
- + Immersive SimFair
- + Point & ClickFair
Comparable games
The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth 2014 · $187M 
Children of Morta 2019 · $12M 
Spelunky 2 2020 · $12M 
PlateUp! 2022 · $11M 
Crypt of the NecroDancer 2015 · $11M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth | older | $14.99 | 415,060 96% | 12M | $187M (exactly $186,652,482) | Nicalis, Inc., Edmund McMillen |
| | Children of Morta | older | $21.99 | 18,213 88% | 546k | $12M (exactly $12,015,116) | Dead Mage |
| | Spelunky 2 | older | $19.99 | 19,736 93% | 592k | $12M (exactly $11,835,679) | Mossmouth, BlitWorks |
| | PlateUp! | older | $19.99 | 18,500 94% | 555k | $11M (exactly $11,094,450) | It's happening |
| | Crypt of the NecroDancer | older | $14.99 | 23,593 95% | 708k | $11M (exactly $10,609,772) | Brace Yourself Games |
 | Streets of Rogue | older | $19.99 | 17,215 96% | 516k | $10M (exactly $10,323,836) | Matt Dabrowski |
 | Wizard of Legend | older | $15.99 | 17,322 91% | 520k | $8.3M (exactly $8,309,363) | Contingent99 |
 | Unrailed! | older | $19.99 | 13,789 93% | 414k | $8.3M (exactly $8,269,263) | Indoor Astronaut |
 | Spelunky | older | $14.99 | 14,676 92% | 440k | $6.6M (exactly $6,599,797) | Mossmouth |
 | Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes | older | $14.99 | 14,331 97% | 430k | $6.4M (exactly $6,444,651) | Steel Crate Games |
 | Pathogenic | $9.99 | 4,145 92% | 124k | $1.2M (exactly $1,242,256) | Aberrant Labs | |
 | Unrailed 2: Back on Track | $19.99 | 1,794 88% | 54k | $1.1M (exactly $1,075,862) | Indoor Astronaut | |
 | Abandoned Archive | $5.99 | 749 93% | 22k | $135k (exactly $134,595) | Vedal | |
 | DSS 2: War Industry | $17.99 | 183 83% | 5.5k | $99k (exactly $98,765) | vikingfabian | |
 | Summer Islands | $14.99 | 190 81% | 5.7k | $85k (exactly $85,443) | Marttalin Games | |
 | Survivor Mercs | $9.99 | 147 70% | 4.4k | $44k (exactly $44,056) | Wolpertinger Games | |
 | Vortica | $14.99 | 93 83% | 2.8k | $42k (exactly $41,822) | Vortical Studios | |
 | Up to Par | $19.99 | 49 73% | 1.5k | $29k (exactly $29,385) | It's Anecdotal | |
 | Sword of the Necromancer: Resurrection | $24.99 | 38 86% | 1.1k | $28k (exactly $28,489) | Grimorio of Games | |
 | Rogue Fist | $8.99 | 92 89% | 2.8k | $25k (exactly $24,812) | Wetcoat Games |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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