Do I ship it?

Games › Hack and Slash › Hack and Slash + Arcade

Specimen · observed

Should I ship an Arcade Hack and Slash game?

Hack and Slash + Arcade

Of 281 developers who shipped an Arcade 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.. 381 more are announced, ×2.5 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $750, ×1.2 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $180; 1 in 20 cleared $500k, ×809 the market median. Revenue is flat on the market; 381 games are announced against 154 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.2 times the market baseline, revenue flat on the market, 381 announced, ×2.5 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Hack and Slash + Arcade
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 281
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $3.0k → $1.3k → $2.2k → $1.9k → $479 → $899 → $628 (still earning) → $718 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Hack and Slash + Arcade: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 281
Bottom 30% $179 (exactly $179)
Median $748 (exactly $748)
Top 25% $6.6k (exactly $6,593)
Top 5% $508k (exactly $508,297)
Developers, 2 yr 281
Released games 840
Announced 381
Effort 5 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $4.99

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 20% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 14%, 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
Arcade
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high 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, Arcade; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Action Roguelike, Roguelite
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
Art
3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, 3D, Pixel Graphics
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 93% positive over 198,227 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $180, median $750, 1 in 4 over $6.5k, 1 in 20 over $500k.

3 in 10 developers made under $180. 8 in 10 of the 150 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 381 games are announced against 154 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.5 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

Castle Crashers® 2012 · $49M Megabonk 2025 · $30M Sifu 2023 · $26M ONE PIECE: PIRATE WARRIORS 4 2023 · $21M Brotato 2023 · $17M
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
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
ONE PIECE: PIRATE WARRIORS 4 older $39.99 17,281 91% 518k $21M (exactly $20,732,016) Koei Tecmo
Brotato older $4.99 111,407 95% 3.3M $17M (exactly $16,677,628) Blobfish
Soulstone Survivors $14.99 25,749 91% 772k $12M (exactly $11,579,325) Game Smithing Limited
Minecraft Dungeons older $19.99 17,941 90% 538k $11M (exactly $10,759,218) Mojang Studios, ‪Double Eleven
Dead as Disco · EA $24.99 12,354 96% 371k $9.3M (exactly $9,261,794) Brain Jar Games, Inc.
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
Halls of Torment $6.66 30,752 95% 923k $6.1M (exactly $6,144,250) Chasing Carrots
SHINOBI: Art of Vengeance $29.99 3,564 83% 107k $3.2M (exactly $3,206,531) SEGA, Lizardcube
Temtem: Swarm $12.99 2,487 77% 75k $969k (exactly $969,184) Crema, GGTech Studios
Dwarven Realms $9.99 2,850 81% 86k $854k (exactly $854,145) Crater Studios
KILL KNIGHT $14.99 1,804 93% 54k $811k (exactly $811,259) PlaySide

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