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Should I ship a 2D Fighter Hack and Slash game?
2D Fighter + Hack and Slash
Of 64 developers who shipped a 2D Fighter 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.. 136 more are announced, ×3.9 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: dead, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $300 in the last 2 years and $420 over 4, against a market of $630 for a 5 / 10 build. 35 developers shipped in the last year and 136 games are announced.
| Bottom 30% | $0 (exactly $0) |
|---|---|
| Median | $299 (exactly $299) |
| Top 25% | $3.6k (exactly $3,591) |
| Top 5% | $57k (exactly $56,970) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 64 |
| Released games | 226 |
| Announced | 136 |
| Effort | 5 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Low |
| Typical price | $5.99 |
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 20% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 14%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is low: the lowest rating among its tags.
- 2D Fighter
- effort 5 / 10 · low · frame-precise animation and rollback netcode
- Hack and Slash
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- 2D Fighter, Hack and Slash; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, 2D Platformer, Action-Adventure
- Price point
- $5.99 typical · top 25% priced $18.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Atmospheric, Hand-drawn
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $18.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.
The top 10 games average 94% positive over 8,946 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $50. 9 in 10 of the 38 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 136 games are announced against 35 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.9 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
2D Fighter with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + RomanceStrong odds
- + Visual NovelFair
- + Card BattlerFair
- + DeckbuildingFair
- + Auto BattlerFair
- + IdlerFair
- + RhythmFair
- + SimulationFair
- + IncrementalFair
- + ManagementFair
- + SuperheroLong shot
- + Resource ManagementLong shot
Comparable games
BlazBlue Entropy Effect 2024 · $18M 
Anomaly Agent 2024 · $3.4M 
Stick It to the Stickman 2025 · EA · $2.8M 
Spiritfall 2024 · $1.1M 
Internet Generation 2022 · $828k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | BlazBlue Entropy Effect | older | $19.99 | 30,410 94% | 912k | $18M (exactly $18,236,877) | 91Act |
| | Anomaly Agent | older | $11.99 | 9,463 94% | 284k | $3.4M (exactly $3,403,841) | Phew Phew Games |
| | Stick It to the Stickman | · EA | $11.99 | 7,918 96% | 238k | $2.8M (exactly $2,848,105) | Free Lives |
| | Spiritfall | older | $19.99 | 1,844 92% | 55k | $1.1M (exactly $1,105,847) | Gentle Giant |
| | Internet Generation | older | $19.99 | 1,380 82% | 41k | $828k (exactly $827,586) | 岛叶游戏 |
 | First Cut: Samurai Duel | older | $8.99 | 1,986 88% | 60k | $536k (exactly $535,624) | Night Eyes Interactive |
 | 9 Monkeys of Shaolin | older | $19.99 | 726 84% | 22k | $435k (exactly $435,382) | Sobaka Studio |
 | Song of Iron | older | $19.99 | 358 72% | 11k | $215k (exactly $214,693) | Resting Relic |
 | Shing! | older | $19.99 | 334 79% | 10k | $200k (exactly $200,300) | Mass Creation |
 | Bleak Sword DX | older | $9.99 | 641 76% | 19k | $192k (exactly $192,108) | more8bit |
 | Poetry of Blood: Eclipse | · EA | $14.99 | 406 91% | 12k | $183k (exactly $182,578) | ZeroGameStudio |
 | Age of Barbarians Chronicles | $18.99 | 101 76% | 3.0k | $58k (exactly $57,540) | Crian Soft | |
 | Trials of Valor | $18.99 | 100 95% | 3.0k | $57k (exactly $56,970) | Armored Goblin | |
 | PlatyGuard: Swarm Slayer | $14.99 | 117 74% | 3.5k | $53k (exactly $52,615) | ChillyRoom | |
 | Night Slashers: Remake | $9.99 | 164 61% | 4.9k | $49k (exactly $49,151) | Storm Trident S.A. | |
 | Lady Death Demonicron | $39.99 | 36 47% | 1.1k | $43k (exactly $43,189) | Art Of Play Interactive | |
 | face the immortal | · EA | $17.99 | 41 92% | 1.2k | $22k (exactly $22,128) | DY |
 | Morkull Ragast's Rage | $17.99 | 39 69% | 1.2k | $21k (exactly $21,048) | Disaster Games | |
 | Vessels of Decay | $17.99 | 24 50% | 720 | $13k (exactly $12,953) | Simon Jakobsson, Aurora Punks |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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