Do I ship it?

Games › Mechanics › Hack and Slash

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Hack and Slash game?

Hack and Slash

Of 1,454 developers who shipped a Hack and Slash 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.. 2,946 more are announced, ×3.4 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $1.8k, ×2.9 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $300; 1 in 20 cleared $850k, ×1360 the market median. Revenue is up 20% on the market; 2,946 games are announced against 858 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 2.9 times the market baseline, revenue up 20% on the market, 2,946 announced, ×3.4 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Hack and Slash
Fig. 1 · this niche among 355
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 1,454
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $3.0k → $2.1k → $2.4k → $3.0k → $2.1k → $2.1k → $1.3k (still earning) → $1.0k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Hack and Slash: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 1,454
Bottom 30% $300 (exactly $300)
Median $1.8k (exactly $1,796)
Top 25% $21k (exactly $20,503)
Top 5% $854k (exactly $854,145)
Developers, 2 yr 1,454
Released games 4,729
Announced 2,946
Effort 5 / 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 20% on the market, supply 35% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 16%, excluded from money figures.

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Plate 2 · systems and tooling

Can AI deliver it?

AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.

Hack and Slash
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
Systems
Hack and Slash
Price point
$7.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.

The top 10 games average 85% positive over 604,343 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $300, median $1.8k, 1 in 4 over $20k, 1 in 20 over $850k.

3 in 10 developers made under $300. 8 in 10 of the 761 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 2,946 games are announced against 858 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.4 per shipper.

Plate 6 · every pair with this tag

All pairs with Hack and Slash

176 pairs · ranked by verdict, then medianwith: mechanics · settings · any
  1. Hack and Slash + Turn-Based Strong odds $14k 8 devs
  2. Hack and Slash + Turn-Based Combat Strong odds $3.7k 28 devs
  3. Hack and Slash + Vampires Fair $7.2k 32 devs
  4. Hack and Slash + Modern Fair $7.2k 13 devs
  5. Hack and Slash + Idler Fair $6.4k 32 devs
  6. Hack and Slash + Incremental Fair $1.7k 40 devs
  7. Hack and Slash + Romance Poor odds $119k 11 devs
  8. Hack and Slash + Visual Novel Poor odds $85k 11 devs
  9. Character Action Game + Hack and Slash Poor odds $58k 27 devs
  10. Destruction + Hack and Slash Poor odds $43k 19 devs
  11. Hack and Slash + LGBTQ+ Poor odds $33k 17 devs
  12. Automation + Hack and Slash Poor odds $21k 12 devs
  13. Hack and Slash + Mechs Poor odds $16k 17 devs
  14. JRPG + Hack and Slash Poor odds $14k 65 devs
  15. Hack and Slash + Collectathon Poor odds $14k 32 devs
  16. Hack and Slash + Lovecraftian Poor odds $11k 16 devs
  17. Hack and Slash + Card Game Poor odds $11k 9 devs
  18. Building + Hack and Slash Poor odds $11k 37 devs
  19. Open World Survival Craft + Hack and Slash Poor odds $11k 12 devs
  20. Crafting + Hack and Slash Poor odds $9.4k 96 devs
  21. Fighting + Hack and Slash Poor odds $8.7k 29 devs
  22. Hack and Slash + Faith Poor odds $8.4k 7 devs
  23. Co-op + Hack and Slash Poor odds $8.4k 145 devs
  24. Hack and Slash + Bullet Heaven Poor odds $8.3k 70 devs
  25. Hack and Slash + Steampunk Poor odds $8.3k 9 devs
  26. Hack and Slash + Gothic Poor odds $8.1k 44 devs
  27. Online Co-Op + Hack and Slash Poor odds $7.9k 119 devs
  28. Hack and Slash + Grid-Based Movement Poor odds $7.4k 9 devs
  29. Hack and Slash + Loot Poor odds $7.2k 182 devs
  30. Hack and Slash + Female Protagonist Poor odds $7.0k 206 devs
  31. Spectacle fighter + Hack and Slash Poor odds $6.7k 77 devs
  32. Hack and Slash + Resource Management Poor odds $6.6k 30 devs
  33. Base Building + Hack and Slash Poor odds $6.5k 51 devs
  34. City Builder + Hack and Slash Poor odds $6.5k 12 devs
  35. Hack and Slash + Dystopian Poor odds $6.1k 37 devs
  36. Souls-like + Hack and Slash Poor odds $6.0k 230 devs
  37. Party-Based RPG + Hack and Slash Poor odds $5.8k 38 devs
  38. Hack and Slash + Management Poor odds $5.7k 16 devs
  39. Hack and Slash + Deckbuilding Poor odds $5.1k 30 devs
  40. Sandbox + Hack and Slash Poor odds $4.9k 54 devs
  41. Hack and Slash + Metroidvania Poor odds $4.8k 79 devs
  42. Hack and Slash + Local Co-Op Poor odds $4.8k 71 devs
  43. Co-op Campaign + Hack and Slash Poor odds $4.8k 20 devs
  44. Hack and Slash + Time Travel Poor odds $4.8k 11 devs
  45. Hack and Slash + Time Manipulation Poor odds $4.7k 10 devs
  46. Hack and Slash + Historical Poor odds $4.5k 45 devs
  47. Hack and Slash + Tactical RPG Poor odds $4.5k 30 devs
  48. Hack and Slash + Dungeon Crawler Poor odds $4.5k 306 devs
  49. Hack and Slash + Cooking Poor odds $4.2k 10 devs
  50. Hack and Slash + Archery Poor odds $4.1k 18 devs
Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Black Myth: Wukong 2024 · $1.6B Sekiro™: Shadows Die Twice - GOTY Edition 2019 · $467M Monster Hunter: World 2018 · $285M Dying Light 2015 · $280M Hades 2020 · $214M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Black Myth: Wukong older $59.99 881,186 96% 26M $1.6B (exactly $1,585,870,444) Game Science
Sekiro™: Shadows Die Twice - GOTY Edition older $59.99 259,508 95% 7.8M $467M (exactly $467,036,548) FromSoftware, Inc.
Monster Hunter: World older $29.99 317,068 89% 9.5M $285M (exactly $285,266,080) CAPCOM Co., Ltd.
Dying Light older $24.99 373,413 95% 11M $280M (exactly $279,947,726) Techland
Hades older $24.99 285,748 97% 8.6M $214M (exactly $214,225,276) Supergiant Games
God of War older $49.99 129,712 95% 3.9M $195M (exactly $194,529,086) Santa Monica Studio, Jetpack Interactive
STAR WARS Jedi: Fallen Order™ older $39.99 153,782 88% 4.6M $184M (exactly $184,492,265) Respawn Entertainment
Path of Exile 2 · EA $29.99 167,730 76% 5.0M $151M (exactly $150,906,681) Grinding Gear Games
NieR:Automata™ older $39.99 115,103 88% 3.5M $138M (exactly $138,089,069) Square Enix, PlatinumGames Inc.
Middle-earth™: Shadow of War™ older $49.99 87,777 88% 2.6M $132M (exactly $131,639,167) Monolith Productions
Stellar Blade™ $59.99 61,289 93% 1.8M $110M (exactly $110,301,813) SHIFT UP Corporation
Hades II $29.99 114,419 95% 3.4M $103M (exactly $102,942,774) Supergiant Games
WUCHANG: Fallen Feathers $49.99 44,865 58% 1.3M $67M (exactly $67,284,040) Leenzee
God of War Ragnarök $59.99 32,502 89% 975k $58M (exactly $58,493,849) Santa Monica Studio, Jetpack Interactive
DYNASTY WARRIORS: ORIGINS $69.99 19,578 92% 587k $41M (exactly $41,107,927) KOEI TECMO GAMES CO., LTD.
The First Berserker: Khazan $59.99 21,049 85% 631k $38M (exactly $37,881,885) Neople
FINAL FANTASY XVI $49.99 24,065 78% 722k $36M (exactly $36,090,280) Square Enix
Megabonk $9.99 100,202 94% 3.0M $30M (exactly $30,030,539) vedinad
Mortal Shell II $49.99 18,644 79% 559k $28M (exactly $27,960,407) Cold Symmetry

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