Do I ship it?

Games › Hack and Slash › Hack and Slash + Horror

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Horror Hack and Slash game?

Hack and Slash + Horror

Of 101 developers who shipped a Horror 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.. 230 more are announced, ×5.5 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $4.0k, ×6.4 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $840; 1 in 20 cleared $2.1M, ×3376 the market median. Revenue is up 155% on the market; 230 games are announced against 42 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 6.4 times the market baseline, revenue up 155% on the market, 230 announced, ×5.5 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Hack and Slash + Horror
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 101
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $4.5k → $2.3k → $3.8k → $3.6k → $2.1k → $4.8k → $8.5k (still earning) → $7.2k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Hack and Slash + Horror: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 101
Bottom 30% $836 (exactly $836)
Median $4.0k (exactly $4,042)
Top 25% $47k (exactly $46,769)
Top 5% $2.1M (exactly $2,119,940)
Developers, 2 yr 101
Released games 322
Announced 230
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 155% on the market, supply 30% fewer developers than the period before.

Free games: 11%, 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
Horror
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium 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; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, RPG, Adventure
Price point
$9.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
Art
3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Dark, Atmospheric
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.

The top 10 games average 78% positive over 217,968 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $840, median $4.0k, 1 in 4 over $46k, 1 in 20 over $2.1M.

3 in 10 developers made under $840. 7 in 10 of the 66 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 230 games are announced against 42 developers who shipped in the last year, ×5.5 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Hack and Slash with a different setting or mood, 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

Dying Light 2015 · $280M Path of Exile 2 2024 · EA · $151M Killing Floor 2 2016 · $78M Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice 2017 · $60M Blasphemous 2019 · $41M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Dying Light older $24.99 373,413 95% 11M $280M (exactly $279,947,726) Techland
Path of Exile 2 · EA $29.99 167,730 76% 5.0M $151M (exactly $150,906,681) Grinding Gear Games
Killing Floor 2 older $29.99 87,158 88% 2.6M $78M (exactly $78,416,053) Tripwire Interactive
Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice older $29.99 66,788 90% 2.0M $60M (exactly $60,089,164) Ninja Theory
Blasphemous older $24.99 54,724 90% 1.6M $41M (exactly $41,026,583) The Game Kitchen
Dead Island 2 older $49.99 23,309 77% 699k $35M (exactly $34,956,507) Dambuster Studios
Mortal Shell II $49.99 18,644 79% 559k $28M (exactly $27,960,407) Cold Symmetry
Onimusha: Way of the Sword $69.99 11,279 89% 338k $24M (exactly $23,682,516) CAPCOM Co., Ltd.
Blasphemous 2 older $29.99 16,808 91% 504k $15M (exactly $15,122,158) The Game Kitchen
Prototype 2 older $39.99 10,389 75% 312k $12M (exactly $12,463,683) Radical Entertainment
The Killing Antidote · EA $29.99 7,512 88% 225k $6.8M (exactly $6,758,546) MetalStar Studio
Mortal Sin $24.99 5,583 94% 167k $4.2M (exactly $4,185,575) Nikola Todorovic
Hell Clock $19.99 3,535 82% 106k $2.1M (exactly $2,119,940) Rogue Snail
Legacy of Kain: Defiance Remastered $24.99 641 96% 19k $481k (exactly $480,558) Crystal Dynamics, PlayEveryWare
XENOTILT: HOSTILE PINBALL ACTION $19.99 770 96% 23k $462k (exactly $461,769) WIZNWAR, FLARB LLC
Butcher's Creek $9.99 1,539 94% 46k $461k (exactly $461,238) David Szymanski
Priest Simulator: Vampire Show $19.99 735 94% 22k $441k (exactly $440,779) Asmodev

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