Games › PvE › PvE + Local Co-Op
Should I ship a PvE Local Co-Op game?
PvE + Local Co-Op
Of 156 developers who shipped a PvE 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.. 289 more are announced, ×3.1 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $720, ×1.1 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $150; 1 in 20 cleared $640k, ×1030 the market median. Revenue is down 35% on the market; 289 games are announced against 92 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $150 (exactly $150) |
|---|---|
| Median | $719 (exactly $719) |
| Top 25% | $4.0k (exactly $3,957) |
| Top 5% | $647k (exactly $646,884) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 156 |
| Released games | 451 |
| Announced | 289 |
| Effort | 6 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Low |
| Typical price | $6.99 |
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 35% on the market, supply 40% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 14%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is low: the lowest rating among its tags.
- PvE
- effort 6 / 10 · low · online co-op against AI still needs the whole netcode stack
- Local Co-Op
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- PvE, Local Co-Op; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Co-op, Local Multiplayer
- Price point
- $6.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
- Art
- 3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, 3D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.
The top 10 games average 78% positive over 20,919 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $150. 9 in 10 of the 78 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 289 games are announced against 92 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.1 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
PvE with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Dating SimFair
- + IdlerFair
- + MinigamesFair
- + TypingFair
- + Extraction ShooterPoor odds
- + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds
- + HeistPoor odds
- + MMORPGPoor odds
- + Real-TimePoor odds
- + NavalPoor odds
- + SpaceshipsPoor odds
- + MarsPoor odds
Comparable games
The Ascent 2021 · $17M 
Tiny Tina's Wonderlands 2022 · $16M 
Plants vs. Zombies: Battle for Neighborville™ 2020 · $14M 
EARTH DEFENSE FORCE 6 2024 · $11M 
Risk of Rain Returns 2023 · $11M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | The Ascent | older | $29.99 | 19,235 74% | 577k | $17M (exactly $17,305,730) | Neon Giant |
| | Tiny Tina's Wonderlands | older | $29.99 | 17,779 70% | 533k | $16M (exactly $15,995,766) | Gearbox Software |
| | Plants vs. Zombies: Battle for Neighborville™ | older | $29.99 | 15,372 71% | 461k | $14M (exactly $13,830,188) | PopCap |
| | EARTH DEFENSE FORCE 6 | older | $59.99 | 6,225 69% | 187k | $11M (exactly $11,203,132) | SANDLOT |
| | Risk of Rain Returns | older | $14.99 | 24,795 89% | 744k | $11M (exactly $11,150,312) | Hopoo Games |
 | Rotwood | $29.99 | 7,459 74% | 224k | $6.7M (exactly $6,710,862) | Klei Entertainment | |
 | Rabbit and Steel | older | $14.99 | 10,159 96% | 305k | $4.6M (exactly $4,568,502) | mino_dev |
 | Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Splintered Fate | $29.99 | 4,143 83% | 124k | $3.7M (exactly $3,727,457) | Super Evil Megacorp | |
 | Chronicon | older | $13.99 | 8,822 94% | 265k | $3.7M (exactly $3,702,593) | Subworld |
 | Contagion | older | $9.99 | 10,042 75% | 301k | $3.0M (exactly $3,009,587) | Monochrome, Inc |
 | Sunderfolk | $49.99 | 1,890 93% | 57k | $2.8M (exactly $2,834,433) | Secret Door | |
 | The Lord of the Rings: War in the North™ - Legacy Edition | $19.99 | 1,858 83% | 56k | $1.1M (exactly $1,114,243) | Aspyr Media | |
 | Tales of Graces f Remastered | $39.99 | 773 87% | 23k | $927k (exactly $927,368) | TOSE CO., LTD. | |
 | Wild Woods | · EA | $14.99 | 1,746 78% | 52k | $785k (exactly $785,176) | Octofox Games |
 | Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Rita's Rewind | $34.99 | 713 65% | 21k | $748k (exactly $748,436) | Digital Eclipse | |
 | Blood: Refreshed Supply™ | $29.99 | 719 71% | 22k | $647k (exactly $646,884) | Nightdive Studios, Monolith Productions | |
 | Rogue Point | $19.99 | 940 63% | 28k | $564k (exactly $563,718) | Crowbar Collective | |
 | Big Helmet Heroes | $24.99 | 678 78% | 20k | $508k (exactly $508,297) | Exalted Studio |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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