Do I ship it?

Games › Hack and Slash › Hack and Slash + Action Roguelike

Specimen · observed

Should I ship an Action Roguelike Hack and Slash game?

Hack and Slash + Action Roguelike

Of 570 developers who shipped an Action Roguelike 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.. 969 more are announced, ×2.7 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 $910k, ×1458 the market median. Revenue is flat on the market; 969 games are announced against 354 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 2.9 times the market baseline, revenue flat on the market, 969 announced, ×2.7 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Hack and Slash + Action Roguelike
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 570
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $3.9k → $2.7k → $3.8k → $1.9k → $3.1k → $2.5k → $1.1k (still earning) → $882 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Hack and Slash + Action Roguelike: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 570
Bottom 30% $299 (exactly $299)
Median $1.8k (exactly $1,796)
Top 25% $22k (exactly $22,128)
Top 5% $915k (exactly $915,384)
Developers, 2 yr 570
Released games 1,296
Announced 969
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 flat on the market, supply 60% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 13%, excluded from money figures.

See every window in the explorer →

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
Action Roguelike
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 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, Action Roguelike; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Roguelite, Roguelike
Price point
$7.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
Art
3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, 2D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.

The top 10 games average 93% positive over 335,306 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 $22k, 1 in 20 over $910k.

3 in 10 developers made under $300. 7 in 10 of the 259 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 969 games are announced against 354 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.7 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Hack and Slash with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + Turn-BasedStrong odds8 devs · median $14k · 1 announced
  2. + Turn-Based CombatStrong odds28 devs · median $3.7k · 27 announced
  3. + VampiresFair32 devs · median $7.2k · 37 announced
  4. + ModernFair13 devs · median $7.2k · 20 announced
  5. + IdlerFair32 devs · median $6.4k · 50 announced
  6. + IncrementalFair40 devs · median $1.7k · 57 announced
  7. + RomancePoor odds11 devs · median $119k · 25 announced
  8. + Visual NovelPoor odds11 devs · median $85k · 22 announced
  9. + Character Action GamePoor odds27 devs · median $58k · 80 announced
  10. + DestructionPoor odds19 devs · median $43k · 57 announced
  11. + LGBTQ+Poor odds17 devs · median $33k · 20 announced
  12. + AutomationPoor odds12 devs · median $21k · 26 announced

All 175 pairs on the Hack and Slash page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Hades 2020 · $214M Dead Cells 2018 · $117M Hades II 2025 · $103M Skul: The Hero Slayer 2021 · $30M Megabonk 2025 · $30M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Hades older $24.99 285,748 97% 8.6M $214M (exactly $214,225,276) Supergiant Games
Dead Cells older $24.99 156,263 97% 4.7M $117M (exactly $117,150,371) Motion Twin
Hades II $29.99 114,419 95% 3.4M $103M (exactly $102,942,774) Supergiant Games
Skul: The Hero Slayer older $19.99 50,801 93% 1.5M $30M (exactly $30,465,360) SOUTHPAW GAMES
Megabonk $9.99 100,202 94% 3.0M $30M (exactly $30,030,539) vedinad
Sifu older $39.99 21,620 92% 649k $26M (exactly $25,937,514) Sloclap
嗜血印 Bloody Spell older $24.99 34,184 89% 1.0M $26M (exactly $25,627,745) 艺龙游戏
BlazBlue Entropy Effect older $19.99 30,410 94% 912k $18M (exactly $18,236,877) 91Act
Brotato older $4.99 111,407 95% 3.3M $17M (exactly $16,677,628) Blobfish
Ravenswatch $24.99 16,908 79% 507k $13M (exactly $12,675,928) Passtech Games
Shape of Dreams $24.99 15,769 89% 473k $12M (exactly $11,822,019) Lizard Smoothie
Soulstone Survivors $14.99 25,749 91% 772k $12M (exactly $11,579,325) Game Smithing Limited
Absolum $24.99 9,399 91% 282k $7.0M (exactly $7,046,430) Dotemu, Guard Crush Games, Supamonks
Windblown · EA $24.99 9,066 88% 272k $6.8M (exactly $6,796,780) Motion Twin
Rotwood $29.99 7,459 74% 224k $6.7M (exactly $6,710,862) Klei Entertainment
Halls of Torment $6.66 30,752 95% 923k $6.1M (exactly $6,144,250) Chasing Carrots
Mortal Sin $24.99 5,583 94% 167k $4.2M (exactly $4,185,575) Nikola Todorovic

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