Do I ship it?

GamesLocal Co-OpLocal Co-Op + Robots

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Robot Local Co-Op game?

Local Co-Op + Robots

Of 30 developers who shipped a Robot 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.. 49 more are announced, ×3.8 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $9.0k, ×14 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $150; 1 in 20 cleared $220k, ×361 the market median. Revenue is down 100% on the market; 49 games are announced against 13 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 14.3 times the market baseline, revenue down 100% on the market, 49 announced, ×3.8 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Local Co-Op + Robots
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 30
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $597 → $3.9k → $11k → $9.2k → $9.0k → $1.1k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Local Co-Op + Robots: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 30
Bottom 30% $150 (exactly $150)
Median $9.0k (exactly $8,996)
Top 25% $35k (exactly $35,030)
Top 5% $227k (exactly $226,687)
Developers, 2 yr 30
Released games 122
Announced 49
Effort 5 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $11.99

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 100% on the market, supply 25% fewer developers than the period before.

Free games: 14%, 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
Robots
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
Systems
Local Co-Op; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Co-op, Adventure
Price point
$11.99 typical · top 25% priced $29.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Pixel Graphics, Side Scroller, 2D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $29.99 or above; the middle game at $11.99.

The top 10 games average 84% positive over 1,800 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $150, median $9.0k, 1 in 4 over $35k, 1 in 20 over $220k.

3 in 10 developers made under $150. 8 in 10 of the 21 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 49 games are announced against 13 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.8 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
EARTH DEFENSE FORCE 6 older $59.99 6,225 69% 187k $11M (exactly $11,203,132) SANDLOT
EARTH DEFENSE FORCE 4.1 The Shadow of New Despair older $19.99 7,776 95% 233k $4.7M (exactly $4,663,267) SANDLOT
30XX older $19.99 2,514 90% 75k $1.5M (exactly $1,507,646) Batterystaple Games
Assault Android Cactus+ older $19.99 1,325 94% 40k $795k (exactly $794,602) Witch Beam
Robot Roller-Derby Disco Dodgeball older $9.99 2,258 91% 68k $677k (exactly $676,723) Erik Asmussen
Blazing Chrome older $16.99 1,326 89% 40k $676k (exactly $675,862) JoyMasher
LEGO® Horizon Adventures™ $39.99 403 60% 12k $483k (exactly $483,479) Guerrilla Games, Studio Gobo
The Deadly Tower of Monsters older $14.99 1,063 89% 32k $478k (exactly $478,031) ACE Team
A Robot Named Fight! older $12.99 796 88% 24k $310k (exactly $310,201) Morningstar Game Studio
Neon Inferno $19.99 378 92% 11k $227k (exactly $226,687) Zenovia Interactive
Brave Escape $19.99 145 97% 4.4k $87k (exactly $86,956) Hit Start Studios
Chip ‘n Clawz vs. The Brainioids $29.99 90 83% 2.7k $81k (exactly $80,973) Snapshot Games Inc.
Escape From Mandrillia: Local Asymmetric VR+PC $12.99 181 95% 5.4k $71k (exactly $70,536) German Bandera
Super Alloy Crush · EA $11.99 194 90% 5.8k $70k (exactly $69,782) Alloy Mushroom
Vengeance Hunters $19.99 63 84% 1.9k $38k (exactly $37,781) Nalua Studio SLU
Chaos Faction Legacy Collection $4.99 234 93% 7.0k $35k (exactly $35,030) George "EON" Eade
Bytebond $11.99 73 89% 2.2k $26k (exactly $26,258) DVD Unicorns
Lost in Tandem $14.99 39 84% 1.2k $18k (exactly $17,538) Tempete Studio

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