Do I ship it?

Games › Sports › Sports + Local Co-Op

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Local Co-Op Sports game?

Sports + Local Co-Op

Of 93 developers who shipped a Local Co-Op Sports 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.. 97 more are announced.

Verdict: fair, for a 6 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $1.2k, ×1.9 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $150. Revenue is up 100% on the market; 97 games are announced against 58 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.9 times the market baseline, revenue up 100% on the market, 97 announced, ×1.7 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Sports + Local Co-Op
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 93
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $21k → $896 → $6.3k → $5.1k → $1.2k → $1.6k → $2.1k (still earning) → $359 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Sports + Local Co-Op: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 93
Bottom 30% $150 (exactly $150)
Median $1.2k (exactly $1,199)
Top 25% $16k (exactly $15,592)
Top 5% $969k (exactly $968,977)
Developers, 2 yr 93
Released games 344
Announced 97
Effort 6 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $9.99

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 100% on the market, supply 40% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 9%, 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.

Sports
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
Sports, Local Co-Op; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Local Multiplayer, PvP, Co-op
Price point
$9.99 typical · top 25% priced $59.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Realistic
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $59.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.

The top 10 games average 54% positive over 137,544 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 $1.2k, 1 in 4 over $15k, 1 in 20 over $960k.

3 in 10 developers made under $150. 8 in 10 of the 52 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 97 games are announced against 58 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + Dynamic NarrationStrong odds17 devs · median $4.2k · 9 announced
  2. + CraftingFair24 devs · median $37k · 26 announced
  3. + Strategy RPGFair23 devs · median $4.7k · 26 announced
  4. + SandboxFair83 devs · median $4.2k · 103 announced
  5. + Split ScreenFair58 devs · median $4.0k · 52 announced
  6. + Dating SimFair29 devs · median $3.6k · 21 announced
  7. + Visual NovelFair38 devs · median $3.4k · 31 announced
  8. + LGBTQ+Fair14 devs · median $3.4k · 13 announced
  9. + FMVFair17 devs · median $2.7k · 5 announced
  10. + BikesFair25 devs · median $2.5k · 18 announced
  11. + Immersive SimFair182 devs · median $2.4k · 185 announced
  12. + Choices MatterFair120 devs · median $2.4k · 150 announced

All 199 pairs on the Sports page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

EA SPORTS FC™ 26 2025 · $209M NBA 2K25 2024 · $65M NBA 2K26 2025 · $54M SpeedRunners 2016 · $10M WWE 2K25 2025 · $7.4M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
EA SPORTS FC™ 26 $69.99 99,773 50% 3.0M $209M (exactly $209,493,368) EA Canada, EA Romania
NBA 2K25 older $69.99 30,969 60% 929k $65M (exactly $65,025,609) Visual Concepts
NBA 2K26 $69.99 25,651 66% 770k $54M (exactly $53,859,405) Visual Concepts
SpeedRunners older $14.99 22,842 94% 685k $10M (exactly $10,272,047) DoubleDutch Games
WWE 2K25 $59.99 4,108 73% 123k $7.4M (exactly $7,393,168) Visual Concepts
Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed Collection older $19.99 11,912 93% 357k $7.1M (exactly $7,143,626) Sumo Digital
DIRT 5 older $59.99 3,530 59% 106k $6.4M (exactly $6,352,941) Codemasters
EA SPORTS™ College Football 27 $69.99 2,583 40% 77k $5.4M (exactly $5,423,525) Tiburon
EA SPORTS™ PGA TOUR™ older $69.99 2,156 56% 65k $4.5M (exactly $4,526,953) Electronic Arts - Tiburon
NBA 2K27 $69.99 1,698 53% 51k $3.6M (exactly $3,565,291) Visual Concepts
EA SPORTS™ Madden NFL 27 $69.99 793 36% 24k $1.7M (exactly $1,665,062) Tiburon
Cricket 26 - The Official Game of the Ashes $59.99 623 79% 19k $1.1M (exactly $1,121,213) Big Ant Studios
Tennis Elbow 4 $29.99 1,077 96% 32k $969k (exactly $968,977) Mana Games
The Karters 2: Turbo Charged · EA $29.99 1,043 91% 31k $938k (exactly $938,387) Pixel Edge Games
AFL 26 $59.99 195 56% 5.9k $351k (exactly $350,942) Big Ant Studios

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