Games › Hack and Slash › Hack and Slash + Beat 'em up
Should I ship a Beat 'em up Hack and Slash game?
Hack and Slash + Beat 'em up
Of 190 developers who shipped a Beat 'em up 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.. 386 more are announced, ×3.5 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $840, ×1.3 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $210; 1 in 20 cleared $910k, ×1458 the market median. Revenue is down 10% on the market; 386 games are announced against 109 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $210 (exactly $210) |
|---|---|
| Median | $839 (exactly $839) |
| Top 25% | $9.0k (exactly $8,996) |
| Top 5% | $915k (exactly $915,384) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 190 |
| Released games | 703 |
| Announced | 386 |
| Effort | 5 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $6.99 |
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 10% on the market, supply 35% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 15%, excluded from money figures.
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
- Beat 'em up
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Hack and Slash, Beat 'em up; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Combat, Adventure
- Price point
- $6.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
- Art
- 3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Side Scroller
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.
The top 10 games average 88% positive over 52,511 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $210. 8 in 10 of the 98 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 386 games are announced against 109 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.5 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Hack and Slash with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Turn-BasedStrong odds
- + Turn-Based CombatStrong odds
- + VampiresFair
- + ModernFair
- + IdlerFair
- + IncrementalFair
- + RomancePoor odds
- + Visual NovelPoor odds
- + Character Action GamePoor odds
- + DestructionPoor odds
- + LGBTQ+Poor odds
- + AutomationPoor odds
Comparable games
METAL GEAR RISING: REVENGEANCE 2014 · $62M 
Castle Crashers® 2012 · $49M 
Sifu 2023 · $26M 
Hi-Fi RUSH 2023 · $25M 
ONE PIECE: PIRATE WARRIORS 4 2023 · $21M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | METAL GEAR RISING: REVENGEANCE | older | $29.99 | 69,104 96% | 2.1M | $62M (exactly $62,172,869) | PlatinumGames |
| | Castle Crashers® | older | $14.99 | 109,654 96% | 3.3M | $49M (exactly $49,311,404) | The Behemoth |
| | Sifu | older | $39.99 | 21,620 92% | 649k | $26M (exactly $25,937,514) | Sloclap |
| | Hi-Fi RUSH | older | $29.99 | 27,454 97% | 824k | $25M (exactly $24,700,364) | Tango Gameworks |
| | ONE PIECE: PIRATE WARRIORS 4 | older | $39.99 | 17,281 91% | 518k | $21M (exactly $20,732,016) | Koei Tecmo |
 | DmC: Devil May Cry | older | $29.99 | 20,938 93% | 628k | $19M (exactly $18,837,919) | Ninja Theory |
 | DYNASTY WARRIORS 8: Xtreme Legends Complete Edition | older | $49.99 | 11,886 83% | 357k | $18M (exactly $17,825,434) | KOEI TECMO GAMES CO., LTD. |
 | Devil May Cry HD Collection | older | $29.99 | 19,493 93% | 585k | $18M (exactly $17,537,852) | CAPCOM Co., Ltd. |
 | Bayonetta | older | $19.99 | 27,380 92% | 821k | $16M (exactly $16,419,786) | PlatinumGames |
 | Evil West | older | $49.99 | 10,215 74% | 306k | $15M (exactly $15,319,436) | Flying Wild Hog |
 | 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 | |
 | Rotwood | $29.99 | 7,459 74% | 224k | $6.7M (exactly $6,710,862) | Klei Entertainment | |
 | Daemon X Machina: Titanic Scion | $69.99 | 1,838 63% | 55k | $3.9M (exactly $3,859,249) | Marvelous Inc. | |
 | Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Splintered Fate | $29.99 | 4,143 83% | 124k | $3.7M (exactly $3,727,457) | Super Evil Megacorp | |
 | Stick It to the Stickman | · EA | $11.99 | 7,918 96% | 238k | $2.8M (exactly $2,848,105) | Free Lives |
 | M.A.S.S. Builder | $24.99 | 3,729 85% | 112k | $2.8M (exactly $2,795,631) | Vermillion Digital | |
 | PATAPON 1+2 REPLAY | $29.99 | 2,091 83% | 63k | $1.9M (exactly $1,881,273) | SAS CO.,LTD. | |
 | Tears of Metal | · EA | $24.99 | 2,359 85% | 71k | $1.8M (exactly $1,768,542) | Paper Cult |
 | KIBORG | $24.99 | 1,221 84% | 37k | $915k (exactly $915,384) | Sobaka Studio |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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