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Should I ship a Local Co-Op Roguelike?
Local Co-Op + Roguelike
Of 88 developers who shipped a Local Co-Op Roguelike 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.. 143 more are announced, ×2.7 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 $270; 1 in 20 cleared $1.0M, ×2265 the market median. Revenue is down 30% on the market; 143 games are announced against 53 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $269 (exactly $269) |
|---|---|
| Median | $2.2k (exactly $2,248) |
| Top 25% | $17k (exactly $16,639) |
| Top 5% | $1.1M (exactly $1,075,862) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 88 |
| Released games | 315 |
| Announced | 143 |
| 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 down 30% on the market, supply 50% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 6%, 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
- Roguelike
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
- Systems
- Local Co-Op, Roguelike; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Action Roguelike, Co-op
- Price point
- $7.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Top-Down
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.
The top 10 games average 81% positive over 30,208 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $270. 9 in 10 of the 38 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 143 games are announced against 53 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.7 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
| 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 |
| | Vampire Survivors | older | $4.99 | 251,686 98% | 7.6M | $38M (exactly $37,677,394) | poncle |
| | Enter the Gungeon | older | $14.99 | 79,392 95% | 2.4M | $36M (exactly $35,702,582) | Dodge Roll |
| | For The King | older | $19.99 | 31,038 87% | 931k | $19M (exactly $18,613,489) | IronOak Games |
| | Brotato | older | $4.99 | 111,407 95% | 3.3M | $17M (exactly $16,677,628) | Blobfish |
| | 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 |
| | Risk of Rain Returns | older | $14.99 | 24,795 89% | 744k | $11M (exactly $11,150,312) | Hopoo Games |
| | 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 |
| | Rotwood | $29.99 | 7,459 74% | 224k | $6.7M (exactly $6,710,862) | Klei Entertainment | |
| | Lost Castle 2 | $17.99 | 10,851 78% | 326k | $5.9M (exactly $5,856,285) | Hunter Studio | |
| | Pathogenic | $9.99 | 4,145 92% | 124k | $1.2M (exactly $1,242,256) | Aberrant Labs | |
| | Greedland | $12.99 | 2,919 83% | 88k | $1.1M (exactly $1,137,534) | VaMP He | |
| | Unrailed 2: Back on Track | $19.99 | 1,794 88% | 54k | $1.1M (exactly $1,075,862) | Indoor Astronaut | |
| | Noobs Are Coming | $7.99 | 1,580 82% | 47k | $379k (exactly $378,726) | Overboy | |
| | Abandoned Archive | $5.99 | 749 93% | 22k | $135k (exactly $134,595) | Vedal | |
| | Shape Shifter: Formations | $14.99 | 269 91% | 8.1k | $121k (exactly $120,969) | Castec Studios | |
| | Apocalypse Express | $9.99 | 262 81% | 7.9k | $79k (exactly $78,521) | Llamaware Studios | |
| | Final Knight | · EA | $13.99 | 180 77% | 5.4k | $76k (exactly $75,546) | 2oclocksoft |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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