Do I ship it?

Games › Hack and Slash › Hack and Slash + Auto Battler

Specimen · observed

Should I ship an Auto Battler Hack and Slash game?

Hack and Slash + Auto Battler

Of 37 developers who shipped an Auto Battler 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.. 50 more are announced.

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

The middle developer here made $2.0k, ×3.2 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $990; 1 in 20 cleared $340k, ×554 the market median. Revenue is down 45% on the market; 50 games are announced against 31 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 3.2 times the market baseline, revenue down 45% on the market, 50 announced, ×1.6 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Hack and Slash + Auto Battler
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 37
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $239 → $5.1k → $7.5k → $28k → $4.5k (still earning) → $1.4k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Hack and Slash + Auto Battler: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 37
Bottom 30% $987 (exactly $987)
Median $2.0k (exactly $2,035)
Top 25% $7.5k (exactly $7,485)
Top 5% $348k (exactly $347,652)
Developers, 2 yr 37
Released games 74
Announced 50
Effort 5 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $5.99

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 45% on the market, supply 345% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 27%, 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
Auto Battler
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, Auto Battler; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry RPG, Action, Idler
Price point
$5.99 typical · top 25% priced $9.99 or above
Art
5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Atmospheric
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $9.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.

The top 10 games average 78% positive over 5,138 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $990, median $2.0k, 1 in 4 over $7.4k, 1 in 20 over $340k.

3 in 10 developers made under $990. 6 in 10 of the 11 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 50 games are announced against 31 developers who shipped in the last year.

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

Dragon Cliff 2018 · $2.3M Skull Horde 2026 · $422k Path of Idle: Old Gods Rising 2026 · $348k Zad Archery 2026 · $168k Bones and Coins 2026 · $153k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Dragon Cliff older $9.99 7,679 88% 230k $2.3M (exactly $2,301,396) Meta Interaction
Skull Horde $12.99 1,083 81% 32k $422k (exactly $422,045) 8BitSkull
Path of Idle: Old Gods Rising $9.99 1,160 77% 35k $348k (exactly $347,652) Small Mill, Small Mill
Zad Archery $6.99 803 73% 24k $168k (exactly $168,389) Samharia Studios
Bones and Coins $7.99 638 72% 19k $153k (exactly $152,929) Troyd Games
Journey to Incrementalia $4.99 894 86% 27k $134k (exactly $133,832) Adam Travers
Dragon Ruins II $9.99 209 87% 6.3k $63k (exactly $62,637) Graverobber Foundation
Dragon Ruins older $4.99 365 90% 11k $55k (exactly $54,640) Graverobber Foundation
Lords and Legions · EA $18.99 59 74% 1.8k $34k (exactly $33,612) Warborne Studios
ELbab · EA $6.99 134 81% 4.0k $28k (exactly $28,100) makz
Desktop Nard: Dice Idle $4.99 116 67% 3.5k $17k (exactly $17,365) Samharia Studios
Everfall 2: Idle Dungeon RPG $9.99 42 76% 1.3k $13k (exactly $12,587) GameDevJoey

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