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Should I ship a Local Multiplayer Platformer?
Local Multiplayer + Platformer
Of 165 developers who shipped a Local Multiplayer Platformer 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.. 230 more are announced, ×2.3 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.9k, ×4.1 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $300; 1 in 20 cleared $270k, ×576 the market median. Revenue is down 20% on the market; 230 games are announced against 100 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $299 (exactly $299) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.9k (exactly $1,946) |
| Top 25% | $6.5k (exactly $6,472) |
| Top 5% | $273k (exactly $273,449) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 165 |
| Released games | 711 |
| Announced | 230 |
| Effort | 4 / 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 20% on the market, supply 55% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 13%, excluded from money figures.
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
- Platformer
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
- Systems
- Local Multiplayer, Platformer; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Local Co-Op, Adventure, Co-op
- Price point
- $5.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Colorful, 2D, Cute
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.
The top 10 games average 95% positive over 99,359 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $300. 9 in 10 of the 76 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 230 games are announced against 100 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.3 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Local Multiplayer with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + HockeyStrong odds
- + Female ProtagonistFair
- + Action RPGFair
- + Hex GridFair
- + ModernFair
- + WargameFair
- + TennisFair
- + Point & ClickFair
- + Artificial IntelligenceFair
- + Football (American)Fair
- + SportsFair
- + RunnerFair
Comparable games
It Takes Two 2021 · $262M 
Split Fiction 2025 · $118M 
Rivals of Aether 2017 · $30M 
BattleBlock Theater® 2014 · $25M 
Broforce 2015 · $22M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | It Takes Two | older | $39.99 | 218,492 95% | 6.6M | $262M (exactly $262,124,852) | Hazelight Studios |
| | Split Fiction | $49.99 | 78,378 97% | 2.4M | $118M (exactly $117,543,487) | Hazelight Studios | |
| | Rivals of Aether | older | $29.99 | 33,284 96% | 999k | $30M (exactly $29,945,615) | Aether Studios |
| | BattleBlock Theater® | older | $14.99 | 55,793 97% | 1.7M | $25M (exactly $25,090,112) | The Behemoth |
| | Broforce | older | $14.99 | 49,512 96% | 1.5M | $22M (exactly $22,265,546) | Free Lives |
 | Ultimate Chicken Horse | older | $14.99 | 41,060 95% | 1.2M | $18M (exactly $18,464,682) | Clever Endeavour Games |
 | LEGO® Marvel™ Super Heroes | older | $19.99 | 22,663 95% | 680k | $14M (exactly $13,591,001) | Traveller's Tales |
 | Rayman® Legends | older | $29.99 | 11,420 89% | 343k | $10M (exactly $10,274,574) | Ubisoft Montpellier |
 | SpeedRunners | older | $14.99 | 22,842 94% | 685k | $10M (exactly $10,272,047) | DoubleDutch Games |
 | Duck Game | older | $12.99 | 25,262 97% | 758k | $9.8M (exactly $9,844,601) | Landon Podbielski |
 | Rivals of Aether II | $29.99 | 6,980 78% | 209k | $6.3M (exactly $6,279,906) | Aether Studios | |
 | UFO 50 | $24.99 | 7,134 94% | 214k | $5.3M (exactly $5,348,360) | Mossmouth | |
 | Onirism | $17.99 | 1,337 82% | 40k | $722k (exactly $721,579) | Crimson Tales | |
 | PAC-MAN WORLD 2 Re-PAC | $29.99 | 694 90% | 21k | $624k (exactly $624,392) | NOW PRODUCTION Co., Ltd. | |
 | Iron Meat | $19.99 | 982 96% | 29k | $589k (exactly $588,905) | Ivan Valeryevich Suvorov, Retroware | |
 | WheelMates | $19.99 | 496 75% | 15k | $297k (exactly $297,451) | Firevolt | |
 | Windswept | $19.99 | 470 92% | 14k | $282k (exactly $281,859) | WeatherFell | |
 | Level Devil | $6.99 | 1,304 91% | 39k | $273k (exactly $273,449) | Unept | |
 | Paddle Paddle Paddle | $4.99 | 1,584 86% | 48k | $237k (exactly $237,125) | Zoroarts |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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