Games › Hack and Slash › Hack and Slash + Local Co-Op
Should I ship a Local Co-Op Hack and Slash game?
Hack and Slash + Local Co-Op
Of 71 developers who shipped a Local Co-Op 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.. 105 more are announced, ×2.3 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $4.8k, ×7.7 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $1.4k; 1 in 20 cleared $1.6M, ×2673 the market median. Revenue is down 35% on the market; 105 games are announced against 45 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $1.3k (exactly $1,349) |
|---|---|
| Median | $4.8k (exactly $4,823) |
| Top 25% | $31k (exactly $30,585) |
| Top 5% | $1.7M (exactly $1,678,578) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 71 |
| Released games | 269 |
| Announced | 105 |
| 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 35% on the market, supply 75% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 8%, 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
- Local Co-Op
- 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, Local Co-Op; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, RPG, Co-op
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 82% positive over 30,096 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $1.4k. 8 in 10 of the 27 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 105 games are announced against 45 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.3 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
Castle Crashers® 2012 · $49M 
Tales of Berseria™ 2017 · $22M 
ONE PIECE: PIRATE WARRIORS 4 2023 · $21M 
DYNASTY WARRIORS 8: Xtreme Legends Complete Edition 2014 · $18M 
EARTH DEFENSE FORCE 5 2019 · $17M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Castle Crashers® | older | $14.99 | 109,654 96% | 3.3M | $49M (exactly $49,311,404) | The Behemoth |
| | Tales of Berseria™ | older | $49.99 | 14,380 91% | 431k | $22M (exactly $21,565,686) | BANDAI NAMCO Studios Inc. |
| | ONE PIECE: PIRATE WARRIORS 4 | older | $39.99 | 17,281 91% | 518k | $21M (exactly $20,732,016) | Koei Tecmo |
| | DYNASTY WARRIORS 8: Xtreme Legends Complete Edition | older | $49.99 | 11,886 83% | 357k | $18M (exactly $17,825,434) | KOEI TECMO GAMES CO., LTD. |
| | EARTH DEFENSE FORCE 5 | older | $59.99 | 9,375 93% | 281k | $17M (exactly $16,872,188) | SANDLOT |
 | Brotato | older | $4.99 | 111,407 95% | 3.3M | $17M (exactly $16,677,628) | Blobfish |
 | HELLDIVERS™ Dive Harder Edition | older | $19.99 | 25,663 90% | 770k | $15M (exactly $15,390,101) | Arrowhead Game Studios |
 | One Piece Pirate Warriors 3 | older | $51.98 | 8,458 79% | 254k | $13M (exactly $13,189,405) | KOEI TECMO GAMES CO., LTD. |
 | Children of Morta | older | $21.99 | 18,213 88% | 546k | $12M (exactly $12,015,116) | Dead Mage |
 | MADNESS: Project Nexus | older | $24.99 | 15,977 97% | 479k | $12M (exactly $11,977,957) | GIBBING TREE, LLC |
 | 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 | |
 | Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Splintered Fate | $29.99 | 4,143 83% | 124k | $3.7M (exactly $3,727,457) | Super Evil Megacorp | |
 | Dragonkin: The Banished | $24.99 | 2,239 72% | 67k | $1.7M (exactly $1,678,578) | Eko Software | |
 | The Lord of the Rings: War in the North™ - Legacy Edition | $19.99 | 1,858 83% | 56k | $1.1M (exactly $1,114,243) | Aspyr Media | |
 | Wild Woods | · EA | $14.99 | 1,746 78% | 52k | $785k (exactly $785,176) | Octofox Games |
 | Big Helmet Heroes | $24.99 | 678 78% | 20k | $508k (exactly $508,297) | Exalted Studio | |
 | Noobs Are Coming | $7.99 | 1,580 82% | 47k | $379k (exactly $378,726) | Overboy | |
 | DuneCrawl | $19.99 | 568 74% | 17k | $341k (exactly $340,630) | Alientrap | |
 | Coridden | $19.99 | 426 89% | 13k | $255k (exactly $255,472) | Aftnareld |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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