Games › Action › Action + Hack and Slash
Should I ship a Hack and Slash Action game?
Action + Hack and Slash
Of 1,268 developers who shipped a Hack and Slash Action 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.. 2,591 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 $1.6k, ×2.6 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $300; 1 in 20 cleared $1.6M, ×2551 the market median. Revenue is up 10% on the market; 2,591 games are announced against 744 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $299 (exactly $299) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.6k (exactly $1,647) |
| Top 25% | $21k (exactly $21,094) |
| Top 5% | $1.6M (exactly $1,601,733) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 1,268 |
| Released games | 4,113 |
| Announced | 2,591 |
| 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 10% on the market, supply 35% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 16%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Action
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
- 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
- Action, Hack and Slash; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry RPG, Action RPG, Adventure
- Price point
- $7.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D
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.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $300. 8 in 10 of the 664 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 2,591 games are announced against 744 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.5 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Action with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Real-Time with PauseFair
- + Job SimulatorFair
- + PinballFair
- + Escape RoomFair
- + Football (American)Fair
- + BaseballFair
- + BilliardsFair
- + IdlerFair
- + TennisFair
- + Time AttackFair
- + TabletopFair
- + WuxiaPoor odds
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.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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