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Should I ship a Base Building Hack and Slash game?
Base Building + Hack and Slash
Of 51 developers who shipped a Base Building 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.. 119 more are announced, ×3.3 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $6.5k, ×10 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $1.5k; 1 in 20 cleared $730k, ×1167 the market median. Revenue is up 175% on the market; 119 games are announced against 36 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $1.5k (exactly $1,485) |
|---|---|
| Median | $6.5k (exactly $6,473) |
| Top 25% | $174k (exactly $173,913) |
| Top 5% | $733k (exactly $733,045) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 51 |
| Released games | 116 |
| Announced | 119 |
| Effort | 5 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $9.99 |
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 175% on the market, supply 140% 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.
- Base Building
- 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
- Base Building, Hack and Slash; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, RPG, Adventure
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Atmospheric
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 80% positive over 13,261 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $1.5k. 7 in 10 of the 18 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 119 games are announced against 36 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.3 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Base Building with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + ProgrammingFair
- + DwarvesFair
- + Bullet HellFair
- + DiplomacyPoor odds
- + SailingPoor odds
- + Dating SimPoor odds
- + TrainsPoor odds
- + Real-Time with PausePoor odds
- + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds
- + UndergroundPoor odds
- + MarsPoor odds
- + HistoricalPoor odds
Comparable games
The Riftbreaker 2021 · $20M 
Myth of Empires 2024 · $14M 
Tribes of Midgard 2021 · $10M 
Cinderia 2026 · EA · $2.6M 
Frozen Flame 2022 · EA · $1.3M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | The Riftbreaker | older | $29.99 | 22,127 90% | 664k | $20M (exactly $19,907,662) | EXOR Studios |
| | Myth of Empires | older | $29.99 | 15,520 68% | 466k | $14M (exactly $13,963,344) | Angela Game |
| | Tribes of Midgard | older | $19.99 | 17,465 76% | 524k | $10M (exactly $10,473,760) | Norsfell |
| | Cinderia | · EA | $17.99 | 4,763 88% | 143k | $2.6M (exactly $2,570,591) | MyACG Studio |
| | Frozen Flame | · EA older | $19.99 | 2,231 61% | 67k | $1.3M (exactly $1,337,931) | Dreamside Interactive |
 | Welcome to ParadiZe | older | $29.99 | 1,059 66% | 32k | $953k (exactly $952,782) | Eko Software |
 | Renown | · EA | $24.99 | 1,128 53% | 34k | $846k (exactly $845,662) | RDBK Studios |
 | Monsters are Coming! | $8.99 | 2,718 79% | 82k | $733k (exactly $733,045) | Ludogram | |
 | Regions Of Ruin | older | $11.99 | 1,972 84% | 59k | $709k (exactly $709,328) | Gameclaw Studio |
 | Actraiser Renaissance | older | $29.99 | 708 74% | 21k | $637k (exactly $636,988) | Square Enix, Sonic Powered |
 | Anomaly President | · EA | $14.99 | 1,376 91% | 41k | $619k (exactly $618,787) | Phew Phew Games |
 | Beyond the Map | · EA | $19.99 | 764 77% | 23k | $458k (exactly $458,171) | Glitch Goblins |
 | Survival Machine | $19.99 | 692 69% | 21k | $415k (exactly $414,992) | Grape Pickers | |
 | RAIDBORN | $24.99 | 431 66% | 13k | $323k (exactly $323,121) | Phodex Games | |
 | Castle Craft | $19.99 | 480 82% | 14k | $288k (exactly $287,856) | Twin Earth | |
 | Tamer: King of Dinosaurs | · EA | $24.99 | 347 86% | 10k | $260k (exactly $260,146) | Ride the Lion Studios |
 | Soulbound: Online | · EA | $14.99 | 562 58% | 17k | $253k (exactly $252,731) | SpiderWare |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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