Do I ship it?

Games › Mechanics › 4 Player Local

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a 4 Player Local game?

4 Player Local

Of 513 developers who shipped a 4 Player Local 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.. 909 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 $1.0k, ×2.2 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $180; 1 in 20 cleared $130k, ×282 the market median. Revenue is down 20% on the market; 909 games are announced against 298 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 2.2 times the market baseline, revenue down 20% on the market, 909 announced, ×3.1 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
4 Player Local
Fig. 1 · this niche among 355
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 513
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $1.2k → $1.2k → $1.5k → $1.9k → $1.2k → $1.8k → $839 (still earning) → $299 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for 4 Player Local: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 513
Bottom 30% $180 (exactly $180)
Median $1.0k (exactly $1,047)
Top 25% $6.9k (exactly $6,886)
Top 5% $134k (exactly $133,966)
Developers, 2 yr 513
Released games 2,203
Announced 909
Effort 4 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $6.99

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 20% on the market, supply 30% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 13%, 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.

4 Player Local
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
Systems
4 Player Local
Price point
$6.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.

The top 10 games average 90% positive over 79,863 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $180, median $1.0k, 1 in 4 over $6.8k, 1 in 20 over $130k.

3 in 10 developers made under $180. 9 in 10 of the 294 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 909 games are announced against 298 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.1 per shipper.

Plate 6 · every pair with this tag

All pairs with 4 Player Local

19 pairs with a settingwith: mechanics · settings · any
  1. 4 Player Local + Cats Fair $1.3k 17 devs
  2. 4 Player Local + Female Protagonist Poor odds $8.5k 15 devs
  3. 4 Player Local + Artificial Intelligence Poor odds $6.9k 11 devs
  4. 4 Player Local + Dark Fantasy Poor odds $3.6k 9 devs
  5. 4 Player Local + Fantasy Poor odds $2.4k 55 devs
  6. 4 Player Local + Magic Poor odds $1.8k 20 devs
  7. 4 Player Local + Horror Poor odds $1.4k 24 devs
  8. 4 Player Local + Zombies Poor odds $1.1k 18 devs
  9. 4 Player Local + Medieval Poor odds $959 17 devs
  10. 4 Player Local + Robots Poor odds $899 12 devs
  11. 4 Player Local + Sci-fi Poor odds $539 34 devs
  12. 4 Player Local + Space Poor odds $539 26 devs
  13. 4 Player Local + Futuristic Poor odds $539 20 devs
  14. 4 Player Local + Nature Poor odds $0 13 devs
  15. 4 Player Local + Psychological Horror Dead $2.7k 8 devs
  16. 4 Player Local + Cyberpunk Dead $898 7 devs
  17. 4 Player Local + Post-apocalyptic Dead $450 11 devs
  18. 4 Player Local + Aliens Dead $150 13 devs
  19. 4 Player Local + War Dead $90 7 devs
Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

NBA 2K25 2024 · $65M Castle Crashers® 2012 · $49M Overcooked! 2 2018 · $46M Party Animals 2023 · $34M Gang Beasts 2017 · $33M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
NBA 2K25 older $69.99 30,969 60% 929k $65M (exactly $65,025,609) Visual Concepts
Castle Crashers® older $14.99 109,654 96% 3.3M $49M (exactly $49,311,404) The Behemoth
Overcooked! 2 older $24.99 61,956 90% 1.9M $46M (exactly $46,448,413) Ghost Town Games Ltd., Team17
Party Animals older $19.99 56,043 81% 1.7M $34M (exactly $33,608,987) Recreate Games
Gang Beasts older $19.99 54,880 85% 1.6M $33M (exactly $32,911,536) Boneloaf, Rocket Science
Rivals of Aether older $29.99 33,284 96% 999k $30M (exactly $29,945,615) Aether Studios
Wobbly Life $24.99 33,034 97% 991k $25M (exactly $24,765,590) RubberBandGames
Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds $69.99 11,479 93% 344k $24M (exactly $24,102,456) Sonic Team
Broforce older $14.99 49,512 96% 1.5M $22M (exactly $22,265,546) Free Lives
Pummel Party older $14.99 46,134 88% 1.4M $21M (exactly $20,746,460) Rebuilt Games
Rivals of Aether II $29.99 6,980 78% 209k $6.3M (exactly $6,279,906) Aether Studios
Lost Castle 2 $17.99 10,851 78% 326k $5.9M (exactly $5,856,285) Hunter Studio
Zort · EA $4.00 11,738 90% 352k $1.4M (exactly $1,408,560) Londer Software
LEGO® Party! $39.99 1,112 87% 33k $1.3M (exactly $1,334,066) SMG Studio
Tennis Elbow 4 $29.99 1,077 96% 32k $969k (exactly $968,977) Mana Games
Tales of Graces f Remastered $39.99 773 87% 23k $927k (exactly $927,368) TOSE CO., LTD.
Little Fighter 2 Remastered $15.88 1,770 76% 53k $843k (exactly $843,228) Little Fighter Co Pty Ltd, Marti Wong
HexBreaker Ⅱ $19.99 1,049 64% 31k $629k (exactly $629,085) 灵煦工作室

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