Games › Local Co-Op › Local Co-Op + Shoot 'Em Up
Should I ship a Local Co-Op Shoot 'Em Up?
Local Co-Op + Shoot 'Em Up
Of 90 developers who shipped a Local Co-Op Shoot 'Em Up 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.. 106 more are announced.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.2k, ×2.5 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $240; 1 in 20 cleared $120k, ×255 the market median. Revenue is down 80% on the market; 106 games are announced against 54 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $240 (exactly $240) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.2k (exactly $1,169) |
| Top 25% | $6.7k (exactly $6,736) |
| Top 5% | $121k (exactly $120,969) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 90 |
| Released games | 473 |
| Announced | 106 |
| 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 80% on the market, supply 45% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 5%, 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
- Shoot 'Em Up
- 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, Shoot 'Em Up; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Arcade, Shooter
- Price point
- $7.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Pixel Graphics, Retro
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.
The top 10 games average 88% positive over 5,645 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $240. 9 in 10 of the 43 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 106 games are announced against 54 developers who shipped in the last year.
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
Cuphead 2017 · $119M 
HUNTDOWN 2021 · $2.4M 
Guns, Gore and Cannoli 2 2018 · $1.8M 
METAL SLUG 3 2014 · $1.7M 
Warhammer 40,000: Shootas, Blood & Teef 2022 · $1.6M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Cuphead | older | $19.99 | 198,790 96% | 6.0M | $119M (exactly $119,214,363) | Studio MDHR Entertainment Inc. |
| | HUNTDOWN | older | $19.99 | 4,059 94% | 122k | $2.4M (exactly $2,434,182) | Easy Trigger Games |
| | Guns, Gore and Cannoli 2 | older | $12.99 | 4,742 94% | 142k | $1.8M (exactly $1,847,957) | Rogueside, Claeysbrothers |
| | METAL SLUG 3 | older | $7.99 | 6,976 90% | 209k | $1.7M (exactly $1,672,147) | SNK CORPORATION, Dotemu |
| | Warhammer 40,000: Shootas, Blood & Teef | older | $19.99 | 2,586 87% | 78k | $1.6M (exactly $1,550,824) | Rogueside |
 | Beat Hazard | older | $9.99 | 5,072 95% | 152k | $1.5M (exactly $1,520,078) | Cold Beam Games |
 | Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime | older | $14.99 | 3,368 93% | 101k | $1.5M (exactly $1,514,590) | Asteroid Base |
 | Greedland | $12.99 | 2,919 83% | 88k | $1.1M (exactly $1,137,534) | VaMP He | |
 | METAL SLUG | older | $7.99 | 4,507 89% | 135k | $1.1M (exactly $1,080,328) | Dotemu |
 | DARIUSBURST Chronicle Saviours | older | $49.99 | 717 82% | 22k | $1.1M (exactly $1,075,285) | Pyramid |
 | Iron Meat | $19.99 | 982 96% | 29k | $589k (exactly $588,905) | Ivan Valeryevich Suvorov, Retroware | |
 | Platypus Reclayed | $14.99 | 641 99% | 19k | $288k (exactly $288,258) | Claymatic Games | |
 | Neon Inferno | $19.99 | 378 92% | 11k | $227k (exactly $226,687) | Zenovia Interactive | |
 | Shape Shifter: Formations | $14.99 | 269 91% | 8.1k | $121k (exactly $120,969) | Castec Studios | |
 | MARVEL MaXimum Collection | $24.99 | 111 76% | 3.3k | $83k (exactly $83,217) | Limited Run Games | |
 | Truxton Extreme | $24.99 | 93 95% | 2.8k | $70k (exactly $69,722) | Tatsujin | |
 | Revolgear Zero | $14.99 | 125 98% | 3.8k | $56k (exactly $56,212) | Bikkuri Software | |
 | UNDER DEFEAT | $19.99 | 81 95% | 2.4k | $49k (exactly $48,576) | CITY CONNECTION, TAKE×0FF | |
 | R-Type Dimensions III | $34.99 | 46 34% | 1.4k | $48k (exactly $48,286) | KRITZELKRATZ 3000 |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
Your address goes to Buttondown, which sends the letter, and nowhere else. Every issue has an unsubscribe link. No tracking beyond the open count Buttondown keeps.