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Should I ship a Zombie Local Co-Op game?
Local Co-Op + Zombies
Of 31 developers who shipped a Zombie 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.. 49 more are announced, ×3.5 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $3.3k, ×5.2 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $420; 1 in 20 cleared $450k, ×725 the market median. Revenue is up 40% on the market; 49 games are announced against 14 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $419 (exactly $419) |
|---|---|
| Median | $3.3k (exactly $3,293) |
| Top 25% | $8.4k (exactly $8,392) |
| Top 5% | $455k (exactly $455,068) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 31 |
| Released games | 143 |
| Announced | 49 |
| Effort | 5 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $6.99 |
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 40% on the market, supply 20% fewer developers than the period before.
Free games: 6%, excluded from money figures.
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
- Zombies
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
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, Local Multiplayer
- Price point
- $6.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Cartoony
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.
The top 10 games average 66% positive over 8,373 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $420. 9 in 10 of the 18 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 49 games are announced against 14 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.5 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Local Co-Op with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + LootStrong odds
- + LGBTQ+Fair
- + Artificial IntelligenceFair
- + TriviaFair
- + Action RPGFair
- + ModernFair
- + Dark FantasyFair
- + Board GameFair
- + Dungeon CrawlerFair
- + MedievalFair
- + Immersive SimFair
- + Point & ClickFair
Comparable games
Left 4 Dead 2 2009 · $245M 
Resident Evil 6 2013 · $31M 
Resident Evil 5 2009 · $29M 
Resident Evil Revelations 2 2015 · $15M 
Plants vs. Zombies: Battle for Neighborville™ 2020 · $14M | 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 |
| | 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 |
| | Resident Evil Revelations 2 | older | $19.99 | 25,446 78% | 763k | $15M (exactly $15,259,966) | CAPCOM Co., Ltd. |
| | Plants vs. Zombies: Battle for Neighborville™ | older | $29.99 | 15,372 71% | 461k | $14M (exactly $13,830,188) | PopCap |
 | How to Survive | older | $14.99 | 13,990 82% | 420k | $6.3M (exactly $6,291,303) | Eko Software |
 | Plants vs. Zombies™: Replanted | $19.99 | 6,898 66% | 207k | $4.1M (exactly $4,136,731) | PopCap Games, The Lost Pixels | |
 | Death Road to Canada | older | $14.99 | 9,123 92% | 274k | $4.1M (exactly $4,102,613) | Rocketcat Games, Madgarden |
 | How to Survive 2 | older | $14.99 | 8,641 69% | 259k | $3.9M (exactly $3,885,858) | Eko Software |
 | Door Kickers: Action Squad | older | $13.99 | 8,778 95% | 263k | $3.7M (exactly $3,684,127) | PixelShard, KillHouse Games |
 | THE HOUSE OF THE DEAD 2: Remake | $24.99 | 607 44% | 18k | $455k (exactly $455,068) | MegaPixel Studio S. A. | |
 | Kingdom of Night | $19.99 | 326 86% | 9.8k | $196k (exactly $195,502) | Friends of Safety | |
 | Containment Initiative 2 | $14.99 | 89 85% | 2.7k | $40k (exactly $40,023) | Gwyn Games LLC | |
 | The Left Behind | $10.99 | 116 23% | 3.5k | $38k (exactly $38,245) | Extrude | |
 | Chaos Faction Legacy Collection | $4.99 | 234 93% | 7.0k | $35k (exactly $35,030) | George "EON" Eade | |
 | Wild Ice | $19.99 | 17 100% | 510 | $10k (exactly $10,195) | Journey Bound Games | |
 | Legacy Of Evil | $9.99 | 28 85% | 840 | $8.4k (exactly $8,392) | Uruca Game Studio | |
 | Skulltide | $12.99 | 18 66% | 540 | $7.0k (exactly $7,015) | The Planar Danse | |
 | Only Out | $4.99 | 40 95% | 1.2k | $6.0k (exactly $5,988) | Shark Studio |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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