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Should I ship a Local Multiplayer Tower Defense?
Local Multiplayer + Tower Defense
Only 17 developers shipped a Local Multiplayer Tower Defense 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, Plants vs. Zombies™: Replanted, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 28 more are announced, ×3.1 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $480, level with the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $180; 1 in 20 cleared $4.1M, ×8709 the market median. Revenue is up 680% on the market; 28 games are announced against 9 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $179 (exactly $179) |
|---|---|
| Median | $479 (exactly $479) |
| Top 25% | $5.7k (exactly $5,694) |
| Top 5% | $4.1M (exactly $4,136,731) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 17 |
| Released games | 75 |
| Announced | 28 |
| 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 up 680% on the market, supply 15% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 12%, 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
- Tower Defense
- 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, Tower Defense; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Co-op, Local Co-Op, Strategy
- Price point
- $7.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Funny, 3D, Cartoon
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.
The top 10 games average 66% positive over 7,029 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $180. All of the 9 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 28 games are announced against 9 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.1 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
Kingdom Two Crowns 2018 · $19M 
Plants vs. Zombies™: Replanted 2025 · $4.1M 
HYPERCHARGE: Unboxed 2020 · $2.8M 
Rock of Ages 2: Bigger & Boulder™ 2017 · $1.3M 
Rock of Ages 2011 · $1.0M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Kingdom Two Crowns | older | $19.99 | 31,259 90% | 938k | $19M (exactly $18,746,022) | Fury Studios, Coatsink |
| | Plants vs. Zombies™: Replanted | $19.99 | 6,898 66% | 207k | $4.1M (exactly $4,136,731) | PopCap Games, The Lost Pixels | |
| | HYPERCHARGE: Unboxed | older | $24.99 | 3,798 90% | 114k | $2.8M (exactly $2,847,361) | Digital Cybercherries |
| | Rock of Ages 2: Bigger & Boulder™ | older | $14.99 | 2,792 90% | 84k | $1.3M (exactly $1,255,562) | ACE Team |
| | Rock of Ages | older | $9.99 | 3,364 92% | 101k | $1.0M (exactly $1,008,191) | ACE Team |
 | DG2: Defense Grid 2 | older | $9.99 | 2,704 86% | 81k | $810k (exactly $810,389) | Hidden Path Entertainment |
 | Toy Soldiers: Complete | older | $14.99 | 989 78% | 30k | $445k (exactly $444,753) | Signal Studios, Krome Studios |
 | CastleStorm | older | $9.99 | 1,262 89% | 38k | $378k (exactly $378,221) | Zen Studios |
 | Atom Zombie Smasher | older | $9.99 | 1,109 89% | 33k | $332k (exactly $332,367) | Blendo Games |
 | Yet Another Zombie Defense HD | older | $3.99 | 2,561 84% | 77k | $307k (exactly $306,552) | Awesome Games Studio |
 | Monarchy | $14.99 | 47 78% | 1.4k | $21k (exactly $21,136) | Brain Seal Ltd | |
 | Wild Ice | $19.99 | 17 100% | 510 | $10k (exactly $10,195) | Journey Bound Games | |
 | No Heroes Here 2 | $19.99 | 13 61% | 390 | $7.8k (exactly $7,796) | Mad Mimic | |
 | Battle Architect: Dalasito | · EA | $9.99 | 19 52% | 570 | $5.7k (exactly $5,694) | Dalas |
 | Crypt Crawler | $7.99 | 15 100% | 450 | $3.6k (exactly $3,596) | Wild Domain | |
 | Insectum - Epic Battles of Bugs | $9.99 | 10 100% | 300 | $3.0k (exactly $2,997) | DevilishGames, Famosa by Giochi Preziosi | |
 | Glorpotron | $12.99 | 4 100% | 120 | $1.6k (exactly $1,559) | Bitwise Botworks, Inc | |
 | Witchtower: Spell Siege | $7.99 | 2 100% | 60 | $479 (exactly $479) | One Billion Bees | |
 | Castle Combat | $2.99 | 4 75% | 120 | $359 (exactly $359) | Pixel Fox Games |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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