Do I ship it?

GamesTacticalTactical + Local Multiplayer

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Local Multiplayer Tactical game?

Tactical + Local Multiplayer

Of 93 developers who shipped a Local Multiplayer Tactical 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.. 124 more are announced, ×2.1 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $450, ×0.7 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $60; 1 in 20 cleared $100k, ×172 the market median. Revenue is down 25% on the market; 124 games are announced against 60 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 0.7 times the market baseline, revenue down 25% on the market, 124 announced, ×2.1 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Tactical + Local Multiplayer
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 93
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $1.8k → $3.1k → $449 → $1.1k → $899 → $3.6k → $269 (still earning) → $150 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Tactical + Local Multiplayer: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 93
Bottom 30% $60 (exactly $60)
Median $449 (exactly $449)
Top 25% $3.0k (exactly $2,997)
Top 5% $108k (exactly $107,946)
Developers, 2 yr 93
Released games 340
Announced 124
Effort 6 / 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 25% on the market, supply 75% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 12%, 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.

Tactical
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
Local Multiplayer
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
Systems
Tactical, Local Multiplayer; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Strategy, PvP, Simulation
Price point
$5.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
Art
3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, 2D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.

The top 10 games average 79% positive over 2,865 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $60, median $450, 1 in 4 over $2.9k, 1 in 20 over $100k.

3 in 10 developers made under $60. Nearly all of the 45 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 124 games are announced against 60 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.1 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Tactical with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + Football (American)Strong odds12 devs · median $5.8k · 8 announced
  2. + Mystery DungeonStrong odds20 devs · median $2.5k · 15 announced
  3. + Dating SimFair13 devs · median $11k · 9 announced
  4. + 6DOFFair14 devs · median $2.4k · 19 announced
  5. + Word GameFair23 devs · median $1.8k · 12 announced
  6. + TypingFair16 devs · median $1.2k · 9 announced
  7. + DwarvesFair7 devs · median $1.0k · 10 announced
  8. + Traditional RoguelikeFair38 devs · median $987 · 57 announced
  9. + Dynamic NarrationFair13 devs · median $899 · 16 announced
  10. + Farming SimFair12 devs · median $897 · 10 announced
  11. + SolitaireFair25 devs · median $479 · 22 announced
  12. + LGBTQ+Fair20 devs · median $479 · 21 announced

All 226 pairs on the Tactical page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Songs of Conquest older $29.99 12,127 85% 364k $11M (exactly $10,910,662) Lavapotion
Romance of the Three Kingdoms XI with Power Up Kit older $39.99 3,754 92% 113k $4.5M (exactly $4,503,674) KOEI TECMO GAMES CO., LTD.
Door Kickers: Action Squad older $13.99 8,778 95% 263k $3.7M (exactly $3,684,127) PixelShard, KillHouse Games
Football, Tactics & Glory older $24.99 3,998 87% 120k $3.0M (exactly $2,997,301) Creoteam
Might & Magic: Heroes VI older $9.99 8,545 47% 256k $2.6M (exactly $2,560,936) Blackhole
Worms Revolution older $14.99 5,664 86% 170k $2.5M (exactly $2,547,101) Team17 Digital Ltd
Wargroove older $19.99 4,015 83% 120k $2.4M (exactly $2,407,796) Chucklefish
Worms Reloaded older $19.99 3,378 86% 101k $2.0M (exactly $2,025,787) Team17 Digital Ltd
Sid Meier's Civilization® IV older $19.99 2,789 92% 84k $1.7M (exactly $1,672,563) Firaxis Games
Heroes of Might & Magic V older $9.99 3,983 88% 119k $1.2M (exactly $1,193,705) Nival
Rogue Point $19.99 940 63% 28k $564k (exactly $563,718) Crowbar Collective
The Conquest of Go $14.99 581 94% 17k $261k (exactly $261,276) Wolfey Studios
Pure Badminton $19.99 323 81% 9.7k $194k (exactly $193,703) DS SOFT
Pure Pool Pro $24.99 206 66% 6.2k $154k (exactly $154,438) Rockwater
Clutchtime™: Basketball Deckbuilder $19.99 180 77% 5.4k $108k (exactly $107,946) Bigosaur
DSS 2: War Industry $17.99 183 83% 5.5k $99k (exactly $98,765) vikingfabian
Cascadia $14.99 210 98% 6.3k $94k (exactly $94,437) Dire Wolf
Tipston Salvage $16.99 80 97% 2.4k $41k (exactly $40,776) Pontus Karlsson
Warhammer: Dark Omen (Classic) $9.99 132 91% 4.0k $40k (exactly $39,560) Mindscape
Jonah Lomu Rugby Challenge 4 $39.99 30 70% 900 $36k (exactly $35,991) Glinda Games

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