Do I ship it?

GamesShooterShooter + Local Co-Op

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Local Co-Op Shooter?

Shooter + Local Co-Op

Of 143 developers who shipped a Local Co-Op Shooter 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.. 172 more are announced, ×2.2 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $1.3k, ×2.1 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $240; 1 in 20 cleared $560k, ×898 the market median. Revenue is down 40% on the market; 172 games are announced against 77 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 2.1 times the market baseline, revenue down 40% on the market, 172 announced, ×2.2 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Shooter + Local Co-Op
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 143
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $9.0k → $1.8k → $1.4k → $1.2k → $2.2k → $5.9k → $1.3k (still earning) → $239 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Shooter + Local Co-Op: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 143
Bottom 30% $240 (exactly $240)
Median $1.3k (exactly $1,347)
Top 25% $11k (exactly $11,089)
Top 5% $564k (exactly $563,718)
Developers, 2 yr 143
Released games 693
Announced 172
Effort 6 / 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 40% on the market, supply 15% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 8%, 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.

Shooter
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
Local Co-Op
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
Systems
Shooter, Local Co-Op; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Co-op, Local Multiplayer
Price point
$7.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
Art
3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.

The top 10 games average 79% positive over 19,599 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $240, median $1.3k, 1 in 4 over $11k, 1 in 20 over $560k.

3 in 10 developers made under $240. 9 in 10 of the 78 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 172 games are announced against 77 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.2 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Shooter with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + Dating SimFair23 devs · median $9.8k · 17 announced
  2. + CollectathonFair69 devs · median $1.4k · 64 announced
  3. + VampiresFair38 devs · median $1.3k · 41 announced
  4. + Walking SimulatorFair68 devs · median $1.2k · 62 announced
  5. + IdlerFair70 devs · median $836 · 59 announced
  6. + Match 3Fair15 devs · median $719 · 5 announced
  7. + SnowFair22 devs · median $570 · 23 announced
  8. + Boss RushFair16 devs · median $537 · 20 announced
  9. + IncrementalFair85 devs · median $479 · 88 announced
  10. + ArcadeLong shot1,151 devs · median $419 · 1,332 announced
  11. + Score AttackLong shot372 devs · median $300 · 352 announced
  12. + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds25 devs · median $139k · 45 announced

All 229 pairs on the Shooter page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Left 4 Dead 2 older $9.99 816,316 97% 24M $245M (exactly $244,649,905) Valve
Enter the Gungeon older $14.99 79,392 95% 2.4M $36M (exactly $35,702,582) Dodge Roll
Resident Evil 6 older $19.99 51,420 77% 1.5M $31M (exactly $30,836,574) Capcom
Resident Evil 5 older $19.99 48,521 87% 1.5M $29M (exactly $29,098,044) Capcom
Broforce older $14.99 49,512 96% 1.5M $22M (exactly $22,265,546) Free Lives
Serious Sam 3: BFE older $29.99 21,834 87% 655k $20M (exactly $19,644,050) Croteam
Gears 5 older $29.99 21,210 72% 636k $19M (exactly $19,082,637) The Coalition
The Ascent older $29.99 19,235 74% 577k $17M (exactly $17,305,730) Neon Giant
EARTH DEFENSE FORCE 5 older $59.99 9,375 93% 281k $17M (exactly $16,872,188) SANDLOT
Tiny Tina's Wonderlands older $29.99 17,779 70% 533k $16M (exactly $15,995,766) Gearbox Software
Gears of War: Reloaded $39.99 3,950 61% 119k $4.7M (exactly $4,738,815) The Coalition
POPUCOM $19.99 3,432 87% 103k $2.1M (exactly $2,058,170) Hypergryph
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
Onirism $17.99 1,337 82% 40k $722k (exactly $721,579) Crimson Tales
Blood: Refreshed Supply™ $29.99 719 71% 22k $647k (exactly $646,884) Nightdive Studios, Monolith Productions
Iron Meat $19.99 982 96% 29k $589k (exactly $588,905) Ivan Valeryevich Suvorov, Retroware
Rogue Point $19.99 940 63% 28k $564k (exactly $563,718) Crowbar Collective
THE HOUSE OF THE DEAD 2: Remake $24.99 607 44% 18k $455k (exactly $455,068) MegaPixel Studio S. A.
DuneCrawl $19.99 568 74% 17k $341k (exactly $340,630) Alientrap

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