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Should I ship a Local Multiplayer Top-Down Shooter?
Local Multiplayer + Top-Down Shooter
Of 72 developers who shipped a Local Multiplayer Top-Down Shooter 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.. 96 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 $300, ×0.6 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $120. 96 games are announced against 39 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.5 per shipper, while revenue is down 65% on the market.
| Bottom 30% | $120 (exactly $120) |
|---|---|
| Median | $300 (exactly $300) |
| Top 25% | $1.8k (exactly $1,796) |
| Top 5% | $42k (exactly $41,822) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 72 |
| Released games | 319 |
| Announced | 96 |
| 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 65% on the market, supply 15% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 14%, 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
- Top-Down Shooter
- 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, Top-Down Shooter; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Local Co-Op, Bullet Hell
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Top-Down, Funny, 2D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 89% positive over 870 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $120. 9 in 10 of the 41 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 96 games are announced against 39 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
Nuclear Throne 2015 · $5.4M 
Ship of Fools 2022 · $3.3M 
Crimsonland 2014 · $884k 
DoDonPachi Resurrection 2016 · $884k 
Sky Force Reloaded 2017 · $805k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Nuclear Throne | older | $11.99 | 15,047 96% | 451k | $5.4M (exactly $5,412,406) | Vlambeer |
| | Ship of Fools | older | $21.99 | 5,040 82% | 151k | $3.3M (exactly $3,324,888) | Fika Productions |
| | 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. |
| | Sky Force Reloaded | older | $9.99 | 2,687 92% | 81k | $805k (exactly $805,294) | Infinite Dreams |
 | Renegade Ops | older | $15.00 | 1,005 85% | 30k | $452k (exactly $452,250) | Avalanche Studios |
 | Splatter - Zombiecalypse Now | older | $6.99 | 2,098 89% | 63k | $440k (exactly $439,951) | Dreamworlds |
 | CYGNI: All Guns Blazing | older | $29.99 | 448 60% | 13k | $403k (exactly $403,066) | KeelWorks |
 | Tesla vs Lovecraft | older | $14.99 | 851 89% | 26k | $383k (exactly $382,695) | 10tons Ltd |
 | Yet Another Zombie Defense HD | older | $3.99 | 2,561 84% | 77k | $307k (exactly $306,552) | Awesome Games Studio |
 | 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 | |
 | BattleCap | $11.99 | 159 96% | 4.8k | $57k (exactly $57,192) | MechAlmond Productions | |
 | Spy Drops | $14.99 | 93 63% | 2.8k | $42k (exactly $41,822) | Rainy Night Creations | |
 | Asterogues | $14.99 | 83 90% | 2.5k | $37k (exactly $37,325) | pipotchi600 | |
 | Silicomrades | $10.99 | 43 100% | 1.3k | $14k (exactly $14,177) | Outside the Fox | |
 | Hyperspaced | $16.99 | 27 92% | 810 | $14k (exactly $13,762) | Rarebyte | |
 | M.O.O.D.S. | $12.99 | 29 82% | 870 | $11k (exactly $11,301) | StickyStoneStudio | |
 | Astro Fighters | $8.99 | 29 93% | 870 | $7.8k (exactly $7,821) | Paul Connor | |
 | Kitchen Wars | $4.99 | 45 80% | 1.4k | $6.7k (exactly $6,736) | Silent Owl |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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