Do I ship it?

GamesLocal Co-OpLocal Co-Op + Space

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Space Local Co-Op game?

Local Co-Op + Space

Of 58 developers who shipped a Space 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.. 80 more are announced, ×2.6 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $1.3k, ×2.1 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $150; 1 in 20 cleared $69k, ×111 the market median. Revenue is up 45% on the market; 80 games are announced against 31 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 2.1 times the market baseline, revenue up 45% on the market, 80 announced, ×2.6 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Local Co-Op + Space
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 58
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $1.9k → $3.8k → $2.7k → $539 → $1.6k → $4.2k → $1.3k (still earning) → $449 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Local Co-Op + Space: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 58
Bottom 30% $150 (exactly $150)
Median $1.3k (exactly $1,347)
Top 25% $7.9k (exactly $7,913)
Top 5% $70k (exactly $69,722)
Developers, 2 yr 58
Released games 292
Announced 80
Effort 5 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $5.99

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 up 45% on the market, supply 10% 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.

Local Co-Op
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
Space
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, Arcade
Price point
$5.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, 3D, Pixel Graphics
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.

The top 10 games average 85% positive over 1,525 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 $1.3k, 1 in 4 over $7.9k, 1 in 20 over $69k.

3 in 10 developers made under $150. All of the 30 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 80 games are announced against 31 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.6 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
LEGO® Star Wars™: The Skywalker Saga older $49.99 38,294 90% 1.1M $57M (exactly $57,429,512) TT Games
HELLDIVERS™ Dive Harder Edition older $19.99 25,663 90% 770k $15M (exactly $15,390,101) Arrowhead Game Studios
LEGO® Star Wars™ - The Complete Saga older $19.99 20,768 96% 623k $12M (exactly $12,454,570) Traveller's Tales
Risk of Rain Returns older $14.99 24,795 89% 744k $11M (exactly $11,150,312) Hopoo Games
Awesomenauts older $19.99 11,822 84% 355k $7.1M (exactly $7,089,653) Ronimo Games
LEGO® Batman™ 3: Beyond Gotham older $19.99 7,521 88% 226k $4.5M (exactly $4,510,344) TT Games Ltd
LEGO® Star Wars™ III - The Clone Wars™ older $19.99 7,194 94% 216k $4.3M (exactly $4,314,242) Traveller's Tales
LEGO® STAR WARS™: The Force Awakens older $19.99 4,131 81% 124k $2.5M (exactly $2,477,361) Traveller's Tales, TT Games, Feral Inte… (Traveller's Tales, TT Games, Feral Interactive (Mac))
Heavenly Bodies older $19.99 3,741 95% 112k $2.2M (exactly $2,243,478) 2pt Interactive
Beat Hazard older $9.99 5,072 95% 152k $1.5M (exactly $1,520,078) Cold Beam Games
Together: Moon Escape $9.99 868 90% 26k $260k (exactly $260,140) CarlosGameDev
Monopoly: Star Wars™ Heroes vs. Villains $29.99 94 39% 2.8k $85k (exactly $84,572) Behaviour Interactive Inc.
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
R-Type Dimensions III $34.99 46 34% 1.4k $48k (exactly $48,286) KRITZELKRATZ 3000
Vortica $14.99 93 83% 2.8k $42k (exactly $41,822) Vortical Studios
Asterogues $14.99 83 90% 2.5k $37k (exactly $37,325) pipotchi600
Operation Night Strikers $24.99 48 77% 1.4k $36k (exactly $35,986) M2 Co., Ltd.
Servonauts $14.99 39 87% 1.2k $18k (exactly $17,538) MAXART Games
Aaero2 $14.99 36 94% 1.1k $16k (exactly $16,189) Mad Fellows

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