Games › Hack and Slash › Hack and Slash + 4 Player Local
Should I ship a 4 Player Local Hack and Slash game?
Hack and Slash + 4 Player Local
Of 23 developers who shipped a 4 Player Local 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.. 47 more are announced, ×4.3 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $3.6k, ×5.7 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $840; 1 in 20 cleared $47k, ×76 the market median. Revenue is down 30% on the market; 47 games are announced against 11 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $839 (exactly $839) |
|---|---|
| Median | $3.6k (exactly $3,596) |
| Top 25% | $9.0k (exactly $8,996) |
| Top 5% | $48k (exactly $47,668) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 23 |
| Released games | 84 |
| Announced | 47 |
| 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 30% on the market, supply 10% fewer developers than the period before.
Free games: 15%, 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
- 4 Player Local
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Hack and Slash, 4 Player Local; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Local Co-Op, Local Multiplayer
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Pixel Graphics, 2D, 3D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 80% positive over 964 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $840. 9 in 10 of the 12 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 47 games are announced against 11 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.3 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
Castle Crashers® 2012 · $49M 
HELLDIVERS™ Dive Harder Edition 2015 · $15M 
Lost Castle / 失落城堡 2016 · $5.5M 
Gauntlet™ Slayer Edition 2014 · $4.0M 
Chronicon 2020 · $3.7M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Castle Crashers® | older | $14.99 | 109,654 96% | 3.3M | $49M (exactly $49,311,404) | The Behemoth |
| | HELLDIVERS™ Dive Harder Edition | older | $19.99 | 25,663 90% | 770k | $15M (exactly $15,390,101) | Arrowhead Game Studios |
| | Lost Castle / 失落城堡 | older | $9.99 | 18,417 87% | 553k | $5.5M (exactly $5,519,575) | Hunter Studio |
| | Gauntlet™ Slayer Edition | older | $19.99 | 6,690 81% | 201k | $4.0M (exactly $4,011,993) | Arrowhead Game Studios |
| | Chronicon | older | $13.99 | 8,822 94% | 265k | $3.7M (exactly $3,702,593) | Subworld |
 | Phantom Breaker: Battle Grounds Classic | older | $14.99 | 2,556 83% | 77k | $1.1M (exactly $1,149,433) | MAGES. Inc. |
 | Hammerwatch | older | $9.99 | 3,668 88% | 110k | $1.1M (exactly $1,099,300) | Crackshell |
 | Dungeons of Sundaria | older | $9.99 | 3,061 74% | 92k | $917k (exactly $917,382) | Industry Games |
 | FORCED: Slightly Better Edition | older | $14.99 | 1,778 74% | 53k | $800k (exactly $799,567) | BetaDwarf |
 | Charlie Murder | older | $9.99 | 2,618 96% | 79k | $785k (exactly $784,615) | Ska Studios |
 | DuneCrawl | $19.99 | 568 74% | 17k | $341k (exactly $340,630) | Alientrap | |
 | INTO EVIL | · EA | $14.99 | 106 92% | 3.2k | $48k (exactly $47,668) | Mind's Eye Games |
 | Wendigo Blue | · EA | $9.99 | 146 90% | 4.4k | $44k (exactly $43,756) | EndlessFluff |
 | Cursed Blood | · EA | $14.99 | 37 75% | 1.1k | $17k (exactly $16,639) | David Marquardt Studios |
 | Buccaneers Shipshape | $12.99 | 31 87% | 930 | $12k (exactly $12,081) | Merso Entertainment | |
 | Otherlights | · EA | $19.99 | 15 100% | 450 | $9.0k (exactly $8,996) | Soleil Artificiel |
 | Skulltide | $12.99 | 18 66% | 540 | $7.0k (exactly $7,015) | The Planar Danse | |
 | Yarn Guardians | $14.99 | 14 100% | 420 | $6.3k (exactly $6,296) | pentapaw studios | |
 | Brigands | $9.99 | 15 73% | 450 | $4.5k (exactly $4,496) | Simon Rinfret, Azooloom | |
 | Jumalien | $9.99 | 14 100% | 420 | $4.2k (exactly $4,196) | Kevin Pedatte |
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.