Do I ship it?

Games › Character Action Game › Character Action Game + Hack and Slash

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Hack and Slash Character Action Game?

Character Action Game + Hack and Slash

Of 27 developers who shipped a Hack and Slash Character Action 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.. 80 more are announced, ×4.4 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $58k, ×39 the market's $1.5k for a 7 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $3.0k; 1 in 20 cleared $9.2M, ×6183 the market median. Revenue is up 80% on the market; 80 games are announced against 18 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 38.5 times the market baseline, revenue up 80% on the market, 80 announced, ×4.4 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Character Action Game + Hack and Slash
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 27
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $271k → $1.4M → $19k → $58k → $131k → $58k (still earning) → $7.0k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Character Action Game + Hack and Slash: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 27
Bottom 30% $3.0k (exactly $2,998)
Median $58k (exactly $57,698)
Top 25% $915k (exactly $915,384)
Top 5% $9.3M (exactly $9,261,794)
Developers, 2 yr 27
Released games 175
Announced 80
Effort 7 / 10
AI-buildability Low
Typical price $19.99

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 80% on the market, supply 100% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 6%, 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.

Character Action Game
effort 7 / 10 · low · effort 7 sits in the low band
Hack and Slash
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
7 / 10 · big single-player or serious online
Systems
Character Action Game, Hack and Slash; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Spectacle fighter, Action-Adventure
Price point
$19.99 typical · top 25% priced $59.99 or above
Art
5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Third Person, 3D, Gore
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $59.99 or above; the middle game at $19.99.

The top 10 games average 88% positive over 33,334 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $3.0k, median $58k, 1 in 4 over $910k, 1 in 20 over $9.2M.

3 in 10 developers made under $3.0k. 4 in 10 of the 9 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 80 games are announced against 18 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.4 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Character Action Game with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + Sci-fiPoor odds12 devs · median $305k · 30 announced
  2. + Action RPGPoor odds14 devs · median $105k · 55 announced
  3. + ShooterPoor odds14 devs · median $84k · 47 announced
  4. + Action-AdventurePoor odds23 devs · median $58k · 93 announced
  5. + Female ProtagonistPoor odds14 devs · median $58k · 43 announced
  6. + Spectacle fighterPoor odds22 devs · median $58k · 44 announced
  7. + Beat 'em upPoor odds12 devs · median $58k · 37 announced
  8. + AdventurePoor odds28 devs · median $29k · 100 announced
  9. + ActionPoor odds54 devs · median $20k · 188 announced
  10. + Action RoguelikePoor odds9 devs · median $20k · 40 announced
  11. + RoguelikePoor odds9 devs · median $20k · 16 announced
  12. + SimulationPoor odds10 devs · median $15k · 19 announced

All 39 pairs on the Character Action Game page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

NieR:Automata™ 2017 · $138M Devil May Cry 5 2019 · $107M METAL GEAR RISING: REVENGEANCE 2014 · $62M NieR Replicant™ ver.1.22474487139... 2021 · $39M SCARLET NEXUS 2021 · $25M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
NieR:Automata™ older $39.99 115,103 88% 3.5M $138M (exactly $138,089,069) Square Enix, PlatinumGames Inc.
Devil May Cry 5 older $29.99 119,108 96% 3.6M $107M (exactly $107,161,468) CAPCOM Co., Ltd.
METAL GEAR RISING: REVENGEANCE older $29.99 69,104 96% 2.1M $62M (exactly $62,172,869) PlatinumGames
NieR Replicant™ ver.1.22474487139... older $59.99 21,493 88% 645k $39M (exactly $38,680,952) Square Enix, Toylogic Inc.
SCARLET NEXUS older $59.99 13,749 81% 412k $25M (exactly $24,744,075) BANDAI NAMCO Studios Inc.
Hi-Fi RUSH older $29.99 27,454 97% 824k $25M (exactly $24,700,364) Tango Gameworks
DmC: Devil May Cry older $29.99 20,938 93% 628k $19M (exactly $18,837,919) Ninja Theory
NINJA GAIDEN 4 $69.99 8,459 88% 254k $18M (exactly $17,761,362) PlatinumGames Inc. / Team NINJA / KOEI… (PlatinumGames Inc. / Team NINJA / 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
Dead as Disco · EA $24.99 12,354 96% 371k $9.3M (exactly $9,261,794) Brain Jar Games, Inc.
NINJA GAIDEN 2 Black $49.99 3,289 78% 99k $4.9M (exactly $4,932,513) KOEI TECMO GAMES CO., LTD.
ROMEO IS A DEAD MAN $49.99 2,059 87% 62k $3.1M (exactly $3,087,882) GRASSHOPPER MANUFACTURE INC.
Lost Soul Aside™ $59.99 1,307 59% 39k $2.4M (exactly $2,352,208) Ultizero Games
Homura Hime $24.99 2,316 90% 69k $1.7M (exactly $1,736,305) Crimson Dusk
KIBORG $24.99 1,221 84% 37k $915k (exactly $915,384) Sobaka Studio
Mahou Arms $39.99 618 73% 19k $741k (exactly $741,415) Dischan Media
Shady Knight $19.99 898 93% 27k $539k (exactly $538,531) Alexey 'cptnsigh'
GODBREAKERS $19.99 813 70% 24k $488k (exactly $487,556) To The Sky

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