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Should I ship a Choices Matter Hack and Slash game?
Hack and Slash + Choices Matter
Of 80 developers who shipped a Choices Matter 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.. 185 more are announced, ×4.1 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $2.3k, ×3.7 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $360; 1 in 20 cleared $250k, ×404 the market median. Revenue is up 85% on the market; 185 games are announced against 45 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $359 (exactly $359) |
|---|---|
| Median | $2.3k (exactly $2,307) |
| Top 25% | $23k (exactly $22,789) |
| Top 5% | $254k (exactly $253,603) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 80 |
| Released games | 204 |
| Announced | 185 |
| Effort | 5 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| 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 up 85% on the market, supply 30% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 11%, 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
- Choices Matter
- 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, Choices Matter; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, RPG, Action Roguelike
- Price point
- $7.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.
The top 10 games average 81% positive over 10,893 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $360. 8 in 10 of the 35 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 185 games are announced against 45 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.1 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
Grim Dawn 2016 · $70M 
Xuan-Yuan Sword VII 2020 · $8.9M 
Kingdoms of Amalur: Re-Reckoning 2020 · $7.6M 
Afterimage 2023 · $5.2M 
Hand of Fate 2 2017 · $4.7M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Grim Dawn | older | $24.99 | 92,979 93% | 2.8M | $70M (exactly $69,706,356) | Crate Entertainment |
| | Xuan-Yuan Sword VII | older | $34.99 | 8,490 62% | 255k | $8.9M (exactly $8,911,953) | SOFTSTAR, DOMO Studio |
| | Kingdoms of Amalur: Re-Reckoning | older | $39.99 | 6,305 78% | 189k | $7.6M (exactly $7,564,108) | KAIKO, Big Huge Games, 38 Studios |
| | Afterimage | older | $24.99 | 6,929 79% | 208k | $5.2M (exactly $5,194,671) | Aurogon Shanghai |
| | Hand of Fate 2 | older | $29.99 | 5,273 84% | 158k | $4.7M (exactly $4,744,118) | Defiant Development |
 | The Dark Pictures Anthology: The Devil in Me | older | $39.99 | 3,778 56% | 113k | $4.5M (exactly $4,532,467) | Supermassive Games |
 | Ember Knights | older | $19.99 | 6,065 93% | 182k | $3.6M (exactly $3,637,180) | Doom Turtle |
 | Anomaly Agent | older | $11.99 | 9,463 94% | 284k | $3.4M (exactly $3,403,841) | Phew Phew Games |
 | Hell Clock | $19.99 | 3,535 82% | 106k | $2.1M (exactly $2,119,940) | Rogue Snail | |
 | Moon Hunters | older | $14.99 | 3,919 79% | 118k | $1.8M (exactly $1,762,374) | Kitfox Games |
 | Dwarven Realms | $9.99 | 2,850 81% | 86k | $854k (exactly $854,145) | Crater Studios | |
 | GOD FORSAKEN | $13.99 | 1,728 67% | 52k | $725k (exactly $725,242) | insight studio | |
 | Evil School | $7.99 | 1,058 92% | 32k | $254k (exactly $253,603) | CineGame Interactive | |
 | FOUNTAINS | $14.99 | 423 84% | 13k | $190k (exactly $190,223) | John Pywell | |
 | Rogue Blight | $12.99 | 318 91% | 9.5k | $124k (exactly $123,925) | CodeRadGames | |
 | Rogue Loops | $14.99 | 259 71% | 7.8k | $116k (exactly $116,472) | Fubu Games | |
 | Din's Champion | $19.99 | 160 85% | 4.8k | $96k (exactly $95,952) | Soldak Entertainment | |
 | Pale Coins | $9.99 | 307 93% | 9.2k | $92k (exactly $92,008) | Lukas Irzl | |
 | Warrior of Lust | $11.99 | 255 79% | 7.7k | $92k (exactly $91,724) | Aerisetta |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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