Do I ship it?

GamesLocal MultiplayerLocal Multiplayer + Psychological Horror

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Psychological-Horror Local Multiplayer game?

Local Multiplayer + Psychological Horror

Only 19 developers shipped a Psychological-Horror 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, Split Fiction, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 20 more are announced, ×2.9 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $4.0k, ×8.3 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $360; 1 in 20 cleared $110M, ×247460 the market median. Revenue is down 100% on the market; 20 games are announced against 7 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 8.3 times the market baseline, revenue down 100% on the market, 20 announced, ×2.9 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Local Multiplayer + Psychological Horror
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 19
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $17k → $24k → $1.6k → $35k → $4.0k → $359 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Local Multiplayer + Psychological Horror: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 19
Bottom 30% $359 (exactly $359)
Median $4.0k (exactly $3,953)
Top 25% $36k (exactly $35,764)
Top 5% $118M (exactly $117,543,487)
Developers, 2 yr 19
Released games 90
Announced 20
Effort 4 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $4.99

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 100% on the market, supply 40% fewer developers than the period before.

Free games: 21%, 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
Psychological Horror
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high 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; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Adventure, Action-Adventure
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Dark, First-Person
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 97% positive over 80,095 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $360, median $4.0k, 1 in 4 over $35k, 1 in 20 over $110M.

3 in 10 developers made under $360. 4 in 10 of the 14 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 20 games are announced against 7 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.9 per shipper.

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. + ModernFair24 devs · median $3.6k · 16 announced
  6. + WargameFair28 devs · median $3.0k · 28 announced
  7. + TennisFair18 devs · median $2.3k · 10 announced
  8. + Point & ClickFair14 devs · median $2.0k · 8 announced
  9. + Artificial IntelligenceFair26 devs · median $1.8k · 27 announced
  10. + Football (American)Fair13 devs · median $1.8k · 4 announced
  11. + SportsFair196 devs · median $1.6k · 208 announced
  12. + RunnerFair23 devs · median $1.3k · 30 announced

All 174 pairs on the Local Multiplayer page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Split Fiction $49.99 78,378 97% 2.4M $118M (exactly $117,543,487) Hazelight Studios
The Dark Pictures Anthology: Man of Medan older $19.99 9,244 76% 277k $5.5M (exactly $5,543,627) Supermassive Games
Catherine Classic older $19.99 8,858 88% 266k $5.3M (exactly $5,312,143) ATLUS
The Past Within older $5.99 14,673 94% 440k $2.6M (exactly $2,636,738) Rusty Lake
Tick Tock: A Tale for Two older $5.99 10,006 85% 300k $1.8M (exactly $1,798,078) Other Tales Interactive
BOKURA older $5.49 10,858 91% 326k $1.8M (exactly $1,788,313) tokoronyori
ibb & obb older $11.99 4,056 89% 122k $1.5M (exactly $1,458,943) Sparpweed, Codeglue
Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania older $29.99 1,313 82% 39k $1.2M (exactly $1,181,306) RGG Studio
Spirit Island older $24.99 1,545 91% 46k $1.2M (exactly $1,158,286) Handelabra Games Inc.
The Jackbox Party Pack 8 older $29.99 1,134 90% 34k $1.0M (exactly $1,020,260) Jackbox Games, Inc.
Terrordrome - Reign of the Legends $19.99 168 72% 5.0k $101k (exactly $100,750) Huracan Studio
Lumberjacked $4.99 647 83% 19k $97k (exactly $96,856) Inner Realm Studios, Dumb Duck Games
Stuck Together $11.99 161 88% 4.8k $58k (exactly $57,912) Hugecalf Studios
Bonesaw $6.66 179 89% 5.4k $36k (exactly $35,764) Blood Pact Studios
Sex With Friends $4.99 236 94% 7.1k $35k (exactly $35,329) B-Team
Exorcist Simulator $9.99 116 66% 3.5k $35k (exactly $34,765) D.M.G.V
Orange Roulette $2.99 132 96% 4.0k $12k (exactly $11,840) Mikey Houser
Horror Royale $5.99 56 66% 1.7k $10k (exactly $10,063) Ben Wade
The Kindling $5.99 22 100% 660 $4.0k (exactly $3,953) 2 Weird

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