Games › Hack and Slash › Hack and Slash + 2D Platformer
Should I ship a 2D Platformer Hack and Slash game?
Hack and Slash + 2D Platformer
Of 178 developers who shipped a 2D Platformer 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.. 313 more are announced, ×3.5 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.2k, ×1.9 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $210; 1 in 20 cleared $240k, ×394 the market median. Revenue is flat on the market; 313 games are announced against 90 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $210 (exactly $210) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.2k (exactly $1,197) |
| Top 25% | $9.9k (exactly $9,893) |
| Top 5% | $248k (exactly $247,676) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 178 |
| Released games | 563 |
| Announced | 313 |
| Effort | 5 / 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 flat on the market, supply as many developers as 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.
- Hack and Slash
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
- 2D Platformer
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Hack and Slash, 2D Platformer; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Platformer, Adventure
- Price point
- $6.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Pixel Graphics, Side Scroller
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.
The top 10 games average 89% positive over 19,781 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $210. 9 in 10 of the 100 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 313 games are announced against 90 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.5 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Hack and Slash with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Turn-BasedStrong odds
- + Turn-Based CombatStrong odds
- + VampiresFair
- + ModernFair
- + IdlerFair
- + IncrementalFair
- + RomancePoor odds
- + Visual NovelPoor odds
- + Character Action GamePoor odds
- + DestructionPoor odds
- + LGBTQ+Poor odds
- + AutomationPoor odds
Comparable games
Katana ZERO 2019 · $30M 
BlazBlue Entropy Effect 2024 · $18M 
Blasphemous 2 2023 · $15M 
Have a Nice Death 2023 · $7.3M 
Prince of Persia The Lost Crown 2024 · $6.1M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Katana ZERO | older | $14.99 | 66,341 97% | 2.0M | $30M (exactly $29,833,548) | Askiisoft |
| | BlazBlue Entropy Effect | older | $19.99 | 30,410 94% | 912k | $18M (exactly $18,236,877) | 91Act |
| | Blasphemous 2 | older | $29.99 | 16,808 91% | 504k | $15M (exactly $15,122,158) | The Game Kitchen |
| | Have a Nice Death | older | $24.99 | 9,729 85% | 292k | $7.3M (exactly $7,293,831) | Magic Design Studios |
| | Prince of Persia The Lost Crown | older | $29.99 | 6,754 84% | 203k | $6.1M (exactly $6,076,574) | Ubisoft Montpellier |
 | Afterimage | older | $24.99 | 6,929 79% | 208k | $5.2M (exactly $5,194,671) | Aurogon Shanghai |
 | Anomaly Agent | older | $11.99 | 9,463 94% | 284k | $3.4M (exactly $3,403,841) | Phew Phew Games |
 | SHINOBI: Art of Vengeance | $29.99 | 3,564 83% | 107k | $3.2M (exactly $3,206,531) | SEGA, Lizardcube | |
 | Stick It to the Stickman | · EA | $11.99 | 7,918 96% | 238k | $2.8M (exactly $2,848,105) | Free Lives |
 | Mega Man Zero/ZX Legacy Collection | older | $29.99 | 2,319 76% | 70k | $2.1M (exactly $2,086,404) | CAPCOM CO., LTD. |
 | PATAPON 1+2 REPLAY | $29.99 | 2,091 83% | 63k | $1.9M (exactly $1,881,273) | SAS CO.,LTD. | |
 | NINJA GAIDEN: Ragebound | $24.99 | 2,500 92% | 75k | $1.9M (exactly $1,874,250) | The Game Kitchen | |
 | AWAKEN - Astral Blade | $19.99 | 1,121 82% | 34k | $672k (exactly $672,264) | Dark Pigeon Games | |
 | KYOTO XANADU -the Blooming Phantom- | $54.99 | 403 78% | 12k | $665k (exactly $664,829) | Nihon Falcom | |
 | Dragon Is Dead | $19.99 | 661 75% | 20k | $396k (exactly $396,402) | TeamSuneat | |
 | Sea Fantasy | $14.99 | 585 86% | 18k | $263k (exactly $263,074) | METASLA | |
 | The Spirit of the Samurai | $19.99 | 413 59% | 12k | $248k (exactly $247,676) | Digital Mind Games | |
 | Divinum | $14.99 | 525 85% | 16k | $236k (exactly $236,092) | Sigil Games |
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.