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Should I ship an Inventory Management Hack and Slash game?
Hack and Slash + Inventory Management
Of 53 developers who shipped an Inventory Management 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.. 128 more are announced, ×3.7 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.5k, ×2.4 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $600; 1 in 20 cleared $2.8M, ×4507 the market median. Revenue is down 10% on the market; 128 games are announced against 35 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $598 (exactly $598) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.5k (exactly $1,498) |
| Top 25% | $22k (exactly $21,586) |
| Top 5% | $2.8M (exactly $2,830,456) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 53 |
| Released games | 133 |
| Announced | 128 |
| 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 down 10% on the market, supply 95% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 23%, 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
- Inventory Management
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Hack and Slash, Inventory Management; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Loot, Action RPG
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 77% positive over 192,560 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $600. 7 in 10 of the 22 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 128 games are announced against 35 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.7 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
Path of Exile 2 2024 · EA · $151M 
Warhammer 40,000: Inquisitor - Martyr 2018 · $29M 
Titan Quest II 2025 · EA · $18M 
Death Must Die 2023 · EA · $4.4M 
Two Worlds II HD 2011 · $2.9M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Path of Exile 2 | · EA | $29.99 | 167,730 76% | 5.0M | $151M (exactly $150,906,681) | Grinding Gear Games |
| | Warhammer 40,000: Inquisitor - Martyr | older | $49.99 | 19,552 75% | 587k | $29M (exactly $29,322,134) | NeocoreGames |
| | Titan Quest II | · EA | $34.99 | 17,398 81% | 522k | $18M (exactly $18,262,681) | Grimlore Games |
| | Death Must Die | · EA older | $6.99 | 20,937 90% | 628k | $4.4M (exactly $4,390,489) | Realm Archive |
| | Two Worlds II HD | older | $24.99 | 3,880 60% | 116k | $2.9M (exactly $2,908,836) | Reality Pump Studios |
 | Moonlighter 2: The Endless Vault | $29.99 | 3,146 80% | 94k | $2.8M (exactly $2,830,456) | Digital Sun | |
 | Lost Ruins | older | $19.99 | 4,643 86% | 139k | $2.8M (exactly $2,784,407) | ALTARI GAMES |
 | Achilles: Legends Untold | older | $24.99 | 2,149 77% | 64k | $1.6M (exactly $1,611,105) | Dark Point Games |
 | Karnage Chronicles | older | $24.99 | 1,190 85% | 36k | $892k (exactly $892,143) | Nordic Trolls |
 | Spell Disk | older | $14.99 | 965 89% | 29k | $434k (exactly $433,960) | Sunpeak Games |
 | Fell & Sell | $9.99 | 1,428 84% | 43k | $428k (exactly $427,972) | Art Games Studio S.A. | |
 | Into the Necrovale | $14.99 | 584 84% | 18k | $263k (exactly $262,625) | CLYDE games | |
 | Concubine | · EA | $14.99 | 517 81% | 16k | $232k (exactly $232,495) | Upgrade Entertainment |
 | Warlords Battleground: Extraction | $11.99 | 525 84% | 16k | $189k (exactly $188,842) | 绝汪 | |
 | Loot Tycoon | · EA | $6.99 | 544 71% | 16k | $114k (exactly $114,077) | Parallel Portal |
 | Ketz: Galactic Overlords | · EA | $8.99 | 386 71% | 12k | $104k (exactly $104,104) | Keep Games |
 | Soulforge Lost Path | $8.99 | 302 69% | 9.1k | $81k (exactly $81,449) | Ziyue |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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