Do I ship it?

GamesLocal Co-OpLocal Co-Op + War

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a War Local Co-Op game?

Local Co-Op + War

Of 21 developers who shipped a War 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.. 28 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 $600, level with the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $210; 1 in 20 cleared $84k, ×135 the market median. Revenue is down 95% on the market; 28 games are announced against 11 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.0 times the market baseline, revenue down 95% on the market, 28 announced, ×2.5 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Local Co-Op + War
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 21
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $13k → $30 → $6.6k → $1.9k → $7.8k → $210 → $838 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Local Co-Op + War: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 21
Bottom 30% $210 (exactly $210)
Median $599 (exactly $599)
Top 25% $7.8k (exactly $7,821)
Top 5% $85k (exactly $84,572)
Developers, 2 yr 21
Released games 86
Announced 28
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 down 95% on the market, supply 10% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 6%, 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
War
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 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
Local Co-Op; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Co-op, Action, Combat
Price point
$9.99 typical · top 25% priced $29.99 or above
Art
5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $29.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.

The top 10 games average 63% positive over 4,406 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $210, median $600, 1 in 4 over $7.8k, 1 in 20 over $84k.

3 in 10 developers made under $210. 8 in 10 of the 12 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 28 games are announced against 11 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.5 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
Worms W.M.D older $29.99 10,435 85% 313k $9.4M (exactly $9,388,370) Team17
Gears of War: Reloaded $39.99 3,950 61% 119k $4.7M (exactly $4,738,815) The Coalition
Axis & Allies 1942 Online older $19.99 4,810 78% 144k $2.9M (exactly $2,884,557) Beamdog
Sky Force Reloaded older $9.99 2,687 92% 81k $805k (exactly $805,294) Infinite Dreams
SAMURAI WARRIORS 4 DX older $49.99 475 85% 14k $712k (exactly $712,358) KOEI TECMO GAMES CO., LTD.
Blazing Chrome older $16.99 1,326 89% 40k $676k (exactly $675,862) JoyMasher
BattleGroupVR older $24.99 858 92% 26k $643k (exactly $643,243) SpaceOwl Games
Sky Force Anniversary older $9.99 2,091 92% 63k $627k (exactly $626,673) Infinite Dreams
Renegade Ops older $15.00 1,005 85% 30k $452k (exactly $452,250) Avalanche Studios
Toy Soldiers: Complete older $14.99 989 78% 30k $445k (exactly $444,753) Signal Studios, Krome Studios
Monopoly: Star Wars™ Heroes vs. Villains $29.99 94 39% 2.8k $85k (exactly $84,572) Behaviour Interactive Inc.
How 2 Escape: Lost Submarine $12.99 161 83% 4.8k $63k (exactly $62,742) Breakfirst Games
UNDER DEFEAT $19.99 81 95% 2.4k $49k (exactly $48,576) CITY CONNECTION, TAKE×0FF
Operation Night Strikers $24.99 48 77% 1.4k $36k (exactly $35,986) M2 Co., Ltd.
Astro Fighters $8.99 29 93% 870 $7.8k (exactly $7,821) Paul Connor
WolfFang SkullFang Saturn Tribute Boosted $19.99 12 66% 360 $7.2k (exactly $7,196) CITY CONNECTION
War of Wheels · EA $14.99 13 100% 390 $5.8k (exactly $5,846) Dreambits Studio
Eagles of World War 2 $9.99 15 86% 450 $4.5k (exactly $4,496) Paul Connor
Poly Frenzy $9.99 3 100% 90 $899 (exactly $899) Poiesis Interactive

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