Do I ship it?

Games › Hack and Slash › Hack and Slash + Assassins

Specimen · observed

Should I ship an Assassin Hack and Slash game?

Hack and Slash + Assassins

Only 14 developers shipped an Assassin Hack and Slash game in the last 2 years, too few for firm odds: the middle one made est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.; the top game by est. revenue, The Killing Antidote, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 32 more are announced, ×5.3 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 7 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $1.6k, ×1.1 the market's $1.5k for a 7 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $360; 1 in 20 cleared $6.7M, ×4512 the market median. Revenue is down 55% on the market; 32 games are announced against 6 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.1 times the market baseline, revenue down 55% on the market, 32 announced, ×5.3 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Hack and Slash + Assassins
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 14
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $897 → $6.6k → $359 → $2.9k → $0 → $12k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Hack and Slash + Assassins: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 14
Bottom 30% $359 (exactly $359)
Median $1.6k (exactly $1,648)
Top 25% $12k (exactly $11,826)
Top 5% $6.8M (exactly $6,758,546)
Developers, 2 yr 14
Released games 66
Announced 32
Effort 7 / 10
AI-buildability Low
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 down 55% on the market, supply 25% fewer 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 low: the lowest rating among its tags.

Hack and Slash
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
Assassins
effort 7 / 10 · low · effort 7 sits in the low band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
7 / 10 · big single-player or serious online
Systems
Hack and Slash; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Adventure, RPG
Price point
$7.99 typical · top 25% priced $29.99 or above
Art
5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Difficult, Third Person
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $29.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.

The top 10 games average 88% positive over 8,829 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $360, median $1.6k, 1 in 4 over $11k, 1 in 20 over $6.7M.

3 in 10 developers made under $360. 8 in 10 of the 9 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 32 games are announced against 6 developers who shipped in the last year, ×5.3 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Hack and Slash with a different setting or mood, 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

Sekiro™: Shadows Die Twice - GOTY Edition 2019 · $467M Middle-earth™: Shadow of Mordor™ 2014 · $38M The Killing Antidote 2024 · EA · $6.8M No More Heroes 2021 · $1.4M Seven: Enhanced Edition 2017 · $1.3M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Sekiro™: Shadows Die Twice - GOTY Edition older $59.99 259,508 95% 7.8M $467M (exactly $467,036,548) FromSoftware, Inc.
Middle-earth™: Shadow of Mordor™ older $19.99 63,815 92% 1.9M $38M (exactly $38,269,856) Monolith Productions
The Killing Antidote · EA $29.99 7,512 88% 225k $6.8M (exactly $6,758,546) MetalStar Studio
No More Heroes older $19.99 2,264 84% 68k $1.4M (exactly $1,357,721) GRASSHOPPER MANUFACTURE INC.
Seven: Enhanced Edition older $29.99 1,429 76% 43k $1.3M (exactly $1,285,671) IMGN.PRO, Fool's Theory
No More Heroes 3 older $39.99 835 79% 25k $1.0M (exactly $1,001,750) GRASSHOPPER MANUFACTURE INC.
No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle older $19.99 1,130 73% 34k $678k (exactly $677,661) GRASSHOPPER MANUFACTURE INC.
Evil School $7.99 1,058 92% 32k $254k (exactly $253,603) CineGame Interactive
Armed with Wings: Rearmed older $9.99 406 87% 12k $122k (exactly $121,678) Sun-Studios
DISORDER $29.99 123 50% 3.7k $111k (exactly $110,663) GRUMPY
Samurai: Ronin's Path $4.99 79 56% 2.4k $12k (exactly $11,826) GameHunters
Outbreak Zombie Plague $3.99 32 34% 960 $3.8k (exactly $3,830) Aurora Studios
Lightning Katana $7.99 12 100% 360 $2.9k (exactly $2,876) Juicy Pulp Games
UNPLUG - The Game · EA $10.99 5 100% 150 $1.6k (exactly $1,648) GoldLime Studios
The King of Assassins - The Kingdom $7.99 3 100% 90 $719 (exactly $719) Faith Studio Team, Rabie Mounther Haddad
Shadowlight $4.99 3 100% 90 $449 (exactly $449) Unangwata
Ninjora Echoes $5.99 2 100% 60 $359 (exactly $359) BUG-Studio

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