Do I ship it?

GamesLootLoot + Local Multiplayer

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Loot Local Multiplayer game?

Loot + Local Multiplayer

Only 15 developers shipped a Loot Local Multiplayer game in the last 2 years, too few for firm odds: the middle one made est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.; the top game by est. revenue, Wild Woods, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 15 more are announced, ×3.0 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $6.0k, ×9.5 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $900; 1 in 20 cleared $780k, ×1250 the market median. Revenue is down 80% on the market; 15 games are announced against 5 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 9.5 times the market baseline, revenue down 80% on the market, 15 announced, ×3.0 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Loot + Local Multiplayer
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 15
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $10k → $17k → $1.0k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Loot + Local Multiplayer: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 15
Bottom 30% $899 (exactly $899)
Median $6.0k (exactly $5,997)
Top 25% $30k (exactly $29,667)
Top 5% $785k (exactly $785,176)
Developers, 2 yr 15
Released games 42
Announced 15
Effort 5 / 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 80% on the market, supply 50% fewer developers than the period before.

Free games: 7%, 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.

Loot
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
Local Multiplayer
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 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
Loot, Local Multiplayer; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Arcade, Local Co-Op
Price point
$9.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
Art
5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Cartoony
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.

The top 10 games average 76% positive over 2,359 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $900, median $6.0k, 1 in 4 over $29k, 1 in 20 over $780k.

3 in 10 developers made under $900. 7 in 10 of the 11 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 15 games are announced against 5 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.0 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + Artificial IntelligenceStrong odds28 devs · median $19k · 22 announced
  2. + Local Co-OpStrong odds22 devs · median $7.3k · 21 announced
  3. + SteampunkStrong odds7 devs · median $2.2k · 10 announced
  4. + CapitalismFair36 devs · median $14k · 52 announced
  5. + Turn-Based StrategyFair86 devs · median $6.3k · 97 announced
  6. + JRPGFair34 devs · median $5.5k · 41 announced
  7. + EconomyFair74 devs · median $4.6k · 114 announced
  8. + IdlerFair181 devs · median $4.5k · 256 announced
  9. + CatsFair17 devs · median $3.4k · 24 announced
  10. + IncrementalFair145 devs · median $2.9k · 236 announced
  11. + Creature CollectorFair51 devs · median $2.9k · 67 announced
  12. + CollectathonFair90 devs · median $1.9k · 95 announced

All 159 pairs on the Loot page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Lost Castle / 失落城堡 older $9.99 18,417 87% 553k $5.5M (exactly $5,519,575) Hunter Studio
Ship of Fools older $21.99 5,040 82% 151k $3.3M (exactly $3,324,888) Fika Productions
Monaco: What's Yours Is Mine older $14.99 3,756 92% 113k $1.7M (exactly $1,689,073) Pocketwatch Games
Wild Woods · EA $14.99 1,746 78% 52k $785k (exactly $785,176) Octofox Games
Kitaria Fables older $19.99 1,253 73% 38k $751k (exactly $751,424) Twin Hearts, Secret Level Studios
Blightbound older $19.99 953 62% 29k $572k (exactly $571,514) Ronimo Games
Super Motherload older $14.99 784 77% 24k $353k (exactly $352,565) XGen Studios
Son of a Witch older $23.99 350 84% 11k $252k (exactly $251,895) Bigosaur
Goonya Monster older $19.99 185 76% 5.6k $111k (exactly $110,944) MUTAN
Marooners older $9.99 293 61% 8.8k $88k (exactly $87,812) M2H
Final Knight · EA $13.99 180 77% 5.4k $76k (exactly $75,546) 2oclocksoft
Monaco 2 $14.99 156 63% 4.7k $70k (exactly $70,153) Pocketwatch Games
Sit-Back Attack · EA $8.99 110 78% 3.3k $30k (exactly $29,667) Stapleton
Raise Your Tribe · EA $9.99 57 52% 1.7k $17k (exactly $17,083) Primeval Forest Studios
Light Fingers $19.99 17 76% 510 $10k (exactly $10,195) Numizmatic
CODEX MORTIS · EA $3.99 61 80% 1.8k $7.3k (exactly $7,302) GROLAF
Sustained · EA $19.99 10 50% 300 $6.0k (exactly $5,997) Iconic Studios
Brigands $9.99 15 73% 450 $4.5k (exactly $4,496) Simon Rinfret, Azooloom
Horde of Viscount $4.99 7 100% 210 $1.0k (exactly $1,048) Swiggins Studios

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