Do I ship it?

GamesTacticalTactical + Local Co-Op

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Local Co-Op Tactical game?

Tactical + Local Co-Op

Of 39 developers who shipped a Local Co-Op Tactical 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.. 63 more are announced, ×2.5 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $540, ×0.9 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $50; 1 in 20 cleared $480k, ×771 the market median. Revenue is down 70% on the market; 63 games are announced against 25 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 0.9 times the market baseline, revenue down 70% on the market, 63 announced, ×2.5 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Tactical + Local Co-Op
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 39
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $185k → $5.7k → $1.4k → $1.3k → $1.6k → $3.6k → $269 (still earning) → $0 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Tactical + Local Co-Op: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 39
Bottom 30% $0 (exactly $0)
Median $539 (exactly $539)
Top 25% $5.0k (exactly $5,034)
Top 5% $484k (exactly $484,327)
Developers, 2 yr 39
Released games 136
Announced 63
Effort 6 / 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 down 70% on the market, supply 65% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 10%, 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.

Tactical
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
Tactical, Local Co-Op; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Co-op, Local Multiplayer, 4 Player Local
Price point
$5.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
Art
3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Funny
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.

The top 10 games average 81% positive over 2,764 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $50, median $540, 1 in 4 over $5.0k, 1 in 20 over $480k.

3 in 10 developers made under $50. 9 in 10 of the 18 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 63 games are announced against 25 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.5 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + Football (American)Strong odds12 devs · median $5.8k · 8 announced
  2. + Mystery DungeonStrong odds20 devs · median $2.5k · 15 announced
  3. + Dating SimFair13 devs · median $11k · 9 announced
  4. + 6DOFFair14 devs · median $2.4k · 19 announced
  5. + Word GameFair23 devs · median $1.8k · 12 announced
  6. + TypingFair16 devs · median $1.2k · 9 announced
  7. + DwarvesFair7 devs · median $1.0k · 10 announced
  8. + Traditional RoguelikeFair38 devs · median $987 · 57 announced
  9. + Dynamic NarrationFair13 devs · median $899 · 16 announced
  10. + Farming SimFair12 devs · median $897 · 10 announced
  11. + SolitaireFair25 devs · median $479 · 22 announced
  12. + LGBTQ+Fair20 devs · median $479 · 21 announced

All 226 pairs on the Tactical 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
Plants vs. Zombies: Battle for Neighborville™ older $29.99 15,372 71% 461k $14M (exactly $13,830,188) PopCap
Door Kickers: Action Squad older $13.99 8,778 95% 263k $3.7M (exactly $3,684,127) PixelShard, KillHouse Games
Football, Tactics & Glory older $24.99 3,998 87% 120k $3.0M (exactly $2,997,301) Creoteam
Worms Revolution older $14.99 5,664 86% 170k $2.5M (exactly $2,547,101) Team17 Digital Ltd
Hero's Hour older $17.99 4,643 79% 139k $2.5M (exactly $2,505,827) Benjamin "ThingOnItsOwn" Hauer
Wargroove older $19.99 4,015 83% 120k $2.4M (exactly $2,407,796) Chucklefish
Stolen Realm older $19.99 3,470 84% 104k $2.1M (exactly $2,080,959) Burst2Flame Games
Worms Reloaded older $19.99 3,378 86% 101k $2.0M (exactly $2,025,787) Team17 Digital Ltd
Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Chaos Theory® older $9.99 5,391 93% 162k $1.6M (exactly $1,615,683) Ubisoft Montreal
Rogue Point $19.99 940 63% 28k $564k (exactly $563,718) Crowbar Collective
Eslabong · EA $14.99 1,077 95% 32k $484k (exactly $484,327) shirowita
Pure Badminton $19.99 323 81% 9.7k $194k (exactly $193,703) DS SOFT
DSS 2: War Industry $17.99 183 83% 5.5k $99k (exactly $98,765) vikingfabian
Tipston Salvage $16.99 80 97% 2.4k $41k (exactly $40,776) Pontus Karlsson
Jonah Lomu Rugby Challenge 4 $39.99 30 70% 900 $36k (exactly $35,991) Glinda Games
Super World War $19.99 19 100% 570 $11k (exactly $11,394) Zero Games Studios
ChanceBall $4.99 46 100% 1.4k $6.9k (exactly $6,886) Second Tempo Games
Threads of War $4.99 45 97% 1.4k $6.7k (exactly $6,736) KoS
Mayday Protocol $7.99 21 71% 630 $5.0k (exactly $5,034) Wazang Games

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