Do I ship it?

GamesLocal Co-OpLocal Co-Op + Psychological Horror

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Psychological-Horror Local Co-Op game?

Local Co-Op + Psychological Horror

Of 22 developers who shipped a Psychological-Horror Local Co-Op 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.. 27 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 $4.0k, ×8.3 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $540; 1 in 20 cleared $710k, ×1512 the market median. Revenue is down 85% on the market; 27 games are announced against 11 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 8.3 times the market baseline, revenue down 85% on the market, 27 announced, ×2.5 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Local Co-Op + Psychological Horror
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 22
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $174k → $9.6k → $653 → $13k → $24k → $748 (still earning) → $538 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Local Co-Op + Psychological Horror: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 22
Bottom 30% $538 (exactly $538)
Median $4.0k (exactly $3,953)
Top 25% $25k (exactly $24,547)
Top 5% $718k (exactly $718,080)
Developers, 2 yr 22
Released games 73
Announced 27
Effort 4 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $5.99

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 down 85% on the market, supply as many developers as the period before.

Free games: 7%, 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
Psychological Horror
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; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Co-op, Online Co-Op
Price point
$5.99 typical · top 25% priced $11.99 or above
Art
6 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Funny, Third Person
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $11.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.

The top 10 games average 96% positive over 84,677 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $540, median $4.0k, 1 in 4 over $24k, 1 in 20 over $710k.

3 in 10 developers made under $540. 8 in 10 of the 12 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 27 games are announced against 11 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 setting or mood, 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

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Split Fiction $49.99 78,378 97% 2.4M $118M (exactly $117,543,487) Hazelight Studios
The Dark Pictures Anthology: The Devil in Me older $39.99 3,778 56% 113k $4.5M (exactly $4,532,467) Supermassive Games
The Past Within older $5.99 14,673 94% 440k $2.6M (exactly $2,636,738) Rusty Lake
The LEGO® Movie - Videogame older $19.99 3,626 86% 109k $2.2M (exactly $2,174,512) TT Fusion, Traveller's Tales
LEGO® Pirates of the Caribbean: The Video Game older $19.99 3,564 90% 107k $2.1M (exactly $2,137,331) Traveller's Tales
Chicory: A Colorful Tale older $19.99 3,407 97% 102k $2.0M (exactly $2,043,178) Wishes Ultd., Greg Lobanov, Alexis Dean… (Wishes Ultd., Greg Lobanov, Alexis Dean-Jones, Lena Raine, Madeline Berger, A Shell in the Pit)
Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days older $9.99 6,813 68% 204k $2.0M (exactly $2,041,856) IO Interactive
Mother Russia Bleeds older $14.99 4,354 87% 131k $2.0M (exactly $1,957,994) Le Cartel Studio
Tick Tock: A Tale for Two older $5.99 10,006 85% 300k $1.8M (exactly $1,798,078) Other Tales Interactive
BOKURA older $5.49 10,858 91% 326k $1.8M (exactly $1,788,313) tokoronyori
VHOLUME $8.00 2,992 97% 90k $718k (exactly $718,080) Nathan Grange, Léonard Lemaitre, Niels… (Nathan Grange, Léonard Lemaitre, Niels Tiercelin)
Scarlet Idol $7.99 2,586 66% 78k $620k (exactly $619,864) 山雨工作室
Stuck Together $11.99 161 88% 4.8k $58k (exactly $57,912) Hugecalf Studios
Sex With Friends $4.99 236 94% 7.1k $35k (exactly $35,329) B-Team
Turnip Mountain $10.49 78 97% 2.3k $25k (exactly $24,547) Luke Sanderson
Ammo and Oxygen $14.99 53 64% 1.6k $24k (exactly $23,834) Juvty Worlds
Lurking Danger $11.99 49 65% 1.5k $18k (exactly $17,625) Farelas
Jumpscare Simulator: System Breach $4.99 88 90% 2.6k $13k (exactly $13,174) Durultay Games
Horror Royale $5.99 56 66% 1.7k $10k (exactly $10,063) Ben Wade

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