Do I ship it?

Games › Local Multiplayer › Local Multiplayer + Runner

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Local Multiplayer Runner?

Local Multiplayer + Runner

Of 23 developers who shipped a Local Multiplayer Runner 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.. 30 more are announced.

Verdict: fair, for a 4 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $1.3k, ×2.8 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $300. Revenue is up 230% on the market; 30 games are announced against 16 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 2.8 times the market baseline, revenue up 230% on the market, 30 announced, ×1.9 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Local Multiplayer + Runner
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 23
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $120 → $4.2k → $5.1k → $719 → $899 → $1.6k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Local Multiplayer + Runner: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 23
Bottom 30% $299 (exactly $299)
Median $1.3k (exactly $1,317)
Top 25% $2.5k (exactly $2,470)
Top 5% $24k (exactly $24,284)
Developers, 2 yr 23
Released games 88
Announced 30
Effort 4 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $3.99

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 230% on the market, supply 130% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 19%, 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
Runner
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, Runner; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry 3D Platformer, Action, Adventure
Price point
$3.99 typical · top 25% priced $10.99 or above
Art
5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Funny, Colorful
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $10.99 or above; the middle game at $3.99.

The top 10 games average 86% positive over 457 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $300, median $1.3k, 1 in 4 over $2.4k, 1 in 20 over $24k.

3 in 10 developers made under $300. All of the 7 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 30 games are announced against 16 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Local Multiplayer with a different second tag, 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. + Hidden ObjectFair15 devs · median $959 · 14 announced

All 174 pairs on the Local Multiplayer page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Mighty Goose 2021 · $566k I wanna be the Creator 2019 · $514k Drift86 2019 · $316k FOTONICA 2014 · $292k Panoptic 2020 · $143k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Mighty Goose older $19.99 943 86% 28k $566k (exactly $565,517) Blastmode, MP2 Games
I wanna be the Creator older $5.99 2,860 94% 86k $514k (exactly $513,942) Aikesi
Drift86 older $1.99 5,293 91% 159k $316k (exactly $315,992) RewindApp
FOTONICA older $14.99 649 87% 19k $292k (exactly $291,855) Santa Ragione
Panoptic older $16.99 281 96% 8.4k $143k (exactly $143,226) Team Panoptes
Action Henk older $14.99 295 92% 8.9k $133k (exactly $132,662) RageSquid
Nippon Marathon older $14.99 274 89% 8.2k $123k (exactly $123,218) Onion Soup Interactive
HerrAnwalt: Lawyers Legacy · EA older $5.99 471 78% 14k $85k (exactly $84,639) Yannick
Jelly Bubble $9.99 170 99% 5.1k $51k (exactly $50,949) BINGOBELL
Runbow older $14.99 107 85% 3.2k $48k (exactly $48,118) 13AM Games
Care Bears: To The Rescue $14.99 54 98% 1.6k $24k (exactly $24,284) Polygoat
Steal The Pig $4.99 74 85% 2.2k $11k (exactly $11,078) BAA Games
Drunk Builder Simulator $2.99 78 39% 2.3k $7.0k (exactly $6,997) Viper
Nippon Marathon 2: Daijoubu · EA $10.99 17 94% 510 $5.6k (exactly $5,605) Onion Soup Interactive
Go Ahead $5.49 15 86% 450 $2.5k (exactly $2,470) Broken Project
Nitro Turtles $7.99 10 100% 300 $2.4k (exactly $2,397) Lucky Turtle
G-Switch 4: Creator $4.99 13 100% 390 $1.9k (exactly $1,946) Serius Games
SeekOut · EA $3.89 16 93% 480 $1.9k (exactly $1,867) Nightroot Interactive
RaceWorms $5.49 10 100% 300 $1.6k (exactly $1,647) Team Zandt

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