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Should I ship a Local Multiplayer Shoot 'Em Up?
Local Multiplayer + Shoot 'Em Up
Of 63 developers who shipped a Local Multiplayer Shoot 'Em Up 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.. 84 more are announced, ×2.5 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $900, ×1.9 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $240; 1 in 20 cleared $69k, ×147 the market median. Revenue is down 70% on the market; 84 games are announced against 34 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $240 (exactly $240) |
|---|---|
| Median | $898 (exactly $898) |
| Top 25% | $6.3k (exactly $6,294) |
| Top 5% | $70k (exactly $69,722) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 63 |
| Released games | 336 |
| Announced | 84 |
| Effort | 4 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $7.99 |
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 70% on the market, supply 15% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 8%, 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
- Shoot 'Em Up
- 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, Shoot 'Em Up; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Arcade, Local Co-Op
- Price point
- $7.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Retro, Pixel Graphics
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.
The top 10 games average 95% positive over 2,323 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $240. 9 in 10 of the 33 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 84 games are announced against 34 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.5 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
Warhammer 40,000: Shootas, Blood & Teef 2022 · $1.6M 
Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime 2015 · $1.5M 
Guns, Gore & Cannoli 2015 · $1.1M 
METAL SLUG 2015 · $1.1M 
DARIUSBURST Chronicle Saviours 2015 · $1.1M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Warhammer 40,000: Shootas, Blood & Teef | older | $19.99 | 2,586 87% | 78k | $1.6M (exactly $1,550,824) | Rogueside |
| | Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime | older | $14.99 | 3,368 93% | 101k | $1.5M (exactly $1,514,590) | Asteroid Base |
| | Guns, Gore & Cannoli | older | $9.99 | 3,681 91% | 110k | $1.1M (exactly $1,103,196) | Rogueside, Claeysbrothers |
| | METAL SLUG | older | $7.99 | 4,507 89% | 135k | $1.1M (exactly $1,080,328) | Dotemu |
| | DARIUSBURST Chronicle Saviours | older | $49.99 | 717 82% | 22k | $1.1M (exactly $1,075,285) | Pyramid |
 | Juicy Realm | older | $9.99 | 3,269 87% | 98k | $980k (exactly $979,719) | SpaceCan |
 | Alien Hominid Invasion | older | $19.99 | 1,572 88% | 47k | $943k (exactly $942,728) | The Behemoth |
 | Patch Quest | older | $14.99 | 2,058 94% | 62k | $925k (exactly $925,483) | Lychee Game Labs |
 | Crimsonland | older | $13.99 | 2,107 94% | 63k | $884k (exactly $884,308) | 10tons Ltd |
 | DoDonPachi Resurrection | older | $29.99 | 982 95% | 29k | $884k (exactly $883,505) | CAVE Interactive CO.,LTD. |
 | Iron Meat | $19.99 | 982 96% | 29k | $589k (exactly $588,905) | Ivan Valeryevich Suvorov, Retroware | |
 | Platypus Reclayed | $14.99 | 641 99% | 19k | $288k (exactly $288,258) | Claymatic Games | |
 | Shape Shifter: Formations | $14.99 | 269 91% | 8.1k | $121k (exactly $120,969) | Castec Studios | |
 | Truxton Extreme | $24.99 | 93 95% | 2.8k | $70k (exactly $69,722) | Tatsujin | |
 | UNDER DEFEAT | $19.99 | 81 95% | 2.4k | $49k (exactly $48,576) | CITY CONNECTION, TAKE×0FF | |
 | Gundroid | $11.99 | 54 96% | 1.6k | $19k (exactly $19,424) | Kitogoru Games | |
 | STEAM-HEART'S Saturn Tribute | $19.99 | 27 77% | 810 | $16k (exactly $16,192) | CITY CONNECTION | |
 | Kickback: Shoot to Move! 👾 | $6.99 | 59 100% | 1.8k | $12k (exactly $12,372) | Dot blood | |
 | Touhou Volleyball Danmaku | $9.99 | 40 100% | 1.2k | $12k (exactly $11,988) | Compact TH | |
 | Soul Stalker | $4.99 | 77 77% | 2.3k | $12k (exactly $11,527) | Radhood, Conradical Games |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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