Games › Split Screen › Split Screen + Sci-fi
Should I ship a Sci-fi Split Screen game?
Split Screen + Sci-fi
Of 33 developers who shipped a Sci-fi Split Screen 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.. 59 more are announced, ×3.7 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.1k, ×1.7 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $150; 1 in 20 cleared $2.5M, ×4076 the market median. Revenue is down 90% on the market; 59 games are announced against 16 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $150 (exactly $150) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.1k (exactly $1,078) |
| Top 25% | $14k (exactly $13,762) |
| Top 5% | $2.6M (exactly $2,559,646) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 33 |
| Released games | 132 |
| Announced | 59 |
| Effort | 5 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $9.99 |
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 90% on the market, supply as many developers as 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.
- Split Screen
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
- Sci-fi
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Split Screen; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Local Multiplayer, Action-Adventure
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $39.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Colorful
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $39.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 96% positive over 82,606 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $150. 9 in 10 of the 19 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 59 games are announced against 16 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.7 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Split Screen with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Automobile SimStrong odds
- + DrivingFair
- + Immersive SimFair
- + HorrorFair
- + SportsFair
- + RPGFair
- + Score AttackLong shot
- + CollectathonPoor odds
- + Online Co-OpPoor odds
- + Female ProtagonistPoor odds
- + Open WorldPoor odds
- + Tower DefensePoor odds
Comparable games
Call of Duty®: Black Ops III 2015 · $284M 
Split Fiction 2025 · $118M 
Serious Sam 3: BFE 2011 · $20M 
Gears 5 2019 · $19M 
EARTH DEFENSE FORCE 5 2019 · $17M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Call of Duty®: Black Ops III | older | $59.99 | 157,694 88% | 4.7M | $284M (exactly $283,801,892) | Treyarch, Aspyr (Mac) |
| | Split Fiction | $49.99 | 78,378 97% | 2.4M | $118M (exactly $117,543,487) | Hazelight Studios | |
| | Serious Sam 3: BFE | older | $29.99 | 21,834 87% | 655k | $20M (exactly $19,644,050) | Croteam |
| | Gears 5 | older | $29.99 | 21,210 72% | 636k | $19M (exactly $19,082,637) | The Coalition |
| | EARTH DEFENSE FORCE 5 | older | $59.99 | 9,375 93% | 281k | $17M (exactly $16,872,188) | SANDLOT |
 | STAR WARS™: Battlefront Classic Collection | older | $35.01 | 7,125 23% | 214k | $7.5M (exactly $7,483,388) | Aspyr |
 | Sonic Adventure 2 | older | $9.99 | 23,755 90% | 713k | $7.1M (exactly $7,119,374) | SEGA |
 | LEGO® Jurassic World | older | $19.99 | 7,797 92% | 234k | $4.7M (exactly $4,675,861) | TT Games Ltd |
 | EARTH DEFENSE FORCE 4.1 The Shadow of New Despair | older | $19.99 | 7,776 95% | 233k | $4.7M (exactly $4,663,267) | SANDLOT |
 | Distance | older | $24.99 | 5,832 93% | 175k | $4.4M (exactly $4,372,250) | Refract |
 | Revenge of the Savage Planet | $29.99 | 2,845 86% | 85k | $2.6M (exactly $2,559,646) | Raccoon Logic Studios Inc. | |
 | Together: Moon Escape | $9.99 | 868 90% | 26k | $260k (exactly $260,140) | CarlosGameDev | |
 | TRANSFORMERS: Galactic Trials | $39.99 | 93 78% | 2.8k | $112k (exactly $111,572) | 3DClouds | |
 | Chip ‘n Clawz vs. The Brainioids | $29.99 | 90 83% | 2.7k | $81k (exactly $80,973) | Snapshot Games Inc. | |
 | MeowGun: Hell Denizen | $12.99 | 114 98% | 3.4k | $44k (exactly $44,426) | SusaDeBastet | |
 | Star Racer | $9.99 | 59 93% | 1.8k | $18k (exactly $17,682) | Whatnot Games | |
 | Lurking Danger | $11.99 | 49 65% | 1.5k | $18k (exactly $17,625) | Farelas | |
 | Hyperspaced | $16.99 | 27 92% | 810 | $14k (exactly $13,762) | Rarebyte | |
 | Live Hard, Die Hard | $4.99 | 83 89% | 2.5k | $12k (exactly $12,425) | Asobism.Co.,Ltd |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
Your address goes to Buttondown, which sends the letter, and nowhere else. Every issue has an unsubscribe link. No tracking beyond the open count Buttondown keeps.