Do I ship it?

Games › Local Multiplayer › Local Multiplayer + Modern

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Modern-Day Local Multiplayer game?

Local Multiplayer + Modern

Of 24 developers who shipped a Modern-Day Local Multiplayer 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.. 16 more are announced.

Verdict: fair, for a 4 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $3.6k, ×7.6 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $330. Revenue is down 25% on the market; 16 games are announced against 14 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 7.6 times the market baseline, revenue down 25% on the market, 16 announced, ×1.1 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Local Multiplayer + Modern
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 24
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $299 → $599 → $8.6k → $839 → $62k → $6.0k (still earning) → $300 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Local Multiplayer + Modern: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 24
Bottom 30% $330 (exactly $330)
Median $3.6k (exactly $3,599)
Top 25% $62k (exactly $62,369)
Top 5% $15M (exactly $15,005,094)
Developers, 2 yr 24
Released games 71
Announced 16
Effort 4 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $11.99

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 25% on the market, supply 40% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 13%, 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 Multiplayer
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
Modern
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
Systems
Local Multiplayer; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Co-op, Local Co-Op, Action
Price point
$11.99 typical · top 25% priced $29.99 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 $29.99 or above; the middle game at $11.99.

The top 10 games average 60% positive over 126,454 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $330, median $3.6k, 1 in 4 over $62k, 1 in 20 over $15M.

3 in 10 developers made under $330. 6 in 10 of the 12 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 16 games are announced against 14 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Local Multiplayer with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + HockeyStrong odds11 devs · median $3.0k · 12 announced
  2. + Female ProtagonistFair61 devs · median $5.8k · 64 announced
  3. + Action RPGFair43 devs · median $5.5k · 56 announced
  4. + Hex GridFair12 devs · median $4.5k · 14 announced
  5. + WargameFair28 devs · median $3.0k · 28 announced
  6. + TennisFair18 devs · median $2.3k · 10 announced
  7. + Point & ClickFair14 devs · median $2.0k · 8 announced
  8. + Artificial IntelligenceFair26 devs · median $1.8k · 27 announced
  9. + Football (American)Fair13 devs · median $1.8k · 4 announced
  10. + SportsFair196 devs · median $1.6k · 208 announced
  11. + RunnerFair23 devs · median $1.3k · 30 announced
  12. + Hidden ObjectFair15 devs · median $959 · 14 announced

All 174 pairs on the Local Multiplayer page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

EA SPORTS FC™ 26 2025 · $209M Rhythm Doctor 2025 · $15M Tennis Elbow 4 2026 · $969k Combat Mission Black Sea 2021 · $759k Ben 10: Power Trip 2020 · $288k
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
Rhythm Doctor $19.99 25,021 98% 751k $15M (exactly $15,005,094) 7th Beat Games
Tennis Elbow 4 $29.99 1,077 96% 32k $969k (exactly $968,977) Mana Games
Combat Mission Black Sea older $59.99 422 81% 13k $759k (exactly $759,473) Battlefront
Ben 10: Power Trip older $29.99 320 78% 9.6k $288k (exactly $287,904) PHL Collective
Combat Mission Cold War older $59.99 156 60% 4.7k $281k (exactly $280,753) Battlefront
Tennis World Tour 2 older $39.99 202 49% 6.1k $242k (exactly $242,339) Big Ant Studios
Handball 21 older $39.99 107 45% 3.2k $128k (exactly $128,368) Eko Software
Terrordrome - Reign of the Legends $19.99 168 72% 5.0k $101k (exactly $100,750) Huracan Studio
Monopoly Madness older $29.99 94 43% 2.8k $85k (exactly $84,572) Engine Software, Ubisoft
Truxton Extreme $24.99 93 95% 2.8k $70k (exactly $69,722) Tatsujin
Yomi 2 $19.99 104 92% 3.1k $62k (exactly $62,369) Sirlin Games
Dooms Hair Salon $9.99 134 89% 4.0k $40k (exactly $40,160) Slimebox
Tough Love Arena $11.99 38 97% 1.1k $14k (exactly $13,669) M. Paul Weeks, Amy Xu
Only Pinball · EA $14.99 22 100% 660 $9.9k (exactly $9,893) Malzbie Games
Super Retro GP · EA $11.99 24 62% 720 $8.6k (exactly $8,633) Dangerous Derk Interactive

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