Do I ship it?

Games › Looter Shooter › Looter Shooter + Hack and Slash

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Hack and Slash Looter Shooter?

Looter Shooter + Hack and Slash

Of 38 developers who shipped a Hack and Slash Looter Shooter 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.. 53 more are announced, ×2.5 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 8 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $1.1k, ×0.7 the market's $1.5k for a 8 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $240; 1 in 20 cleared $300k, ×201 the market median. Revenue is down 50% on the market; 53 games are announced against 21 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 0.7 times the market baseline, revenue down 50% on the market, 53 announced, ×2.5 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Looter Shooter + Hack and Slash
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 38
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $3.1k → $1.5k → $420 → $449 → $299 → $2.3k → $419 (still earning) → $1.1k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Looter Shooter + Hack and Slash: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 38
Bottom 30% $240 (exactly $240)
Median $1.1k (exactly $1,079)
Top 25% $10k (exactly $10,190)
Top 5% $300k (exactly $300,459)
Developers, 2 yr 38
Released games 83
Announced 53
Effort 8 / 10
AI-buildability Low
Typical price $6.99

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 50% on the market, supply 25% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 13%, 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.

Looter Shooter
effort 8 / 10 · low · online co-op and a loot economy on top of a shooter
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
8 / 10 · online systems, open world
Systems
Looter Shooter, Hack and Slash; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Loot, Action RPG
Price point
$6.99 typical · top 25% priced $12.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Pixel Graphics, Anime
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $12.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.

The top 10 games average 86% positive over 5,865 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $240, median $1.1k, 1 in 4 over $10k, 1 in 20 over $300k.

3 in 10 developers made under $240. 7 in 10 of the 20 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 53 games are announced against 21 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.5 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Looter Shooter with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + MechsFair13 devs · median $219k · 14 announced
  2. + Vehicular CombatFair11 devs · median $15k · 14 announced
  3. + IdlerFair16 devs · median $1.2k · 8 announced
  4. + 3D PlatformerLong shot23 devs · median $449 · 16 announced
  5. + Extraction ShooterPoor odds31 devs · median $71k · 73 announced
  6. + Online Co-OpPoor odds54 devs · median $25k · 136 announced
  7. + Co-opPoor odds56 devs · median $25k · 124 announced
  8. + Twin Stick ShooterPoor odds18 devs · median $16k · 44 announced
  9. + DystopianPoor odds14 devs · median $10k · 45 announced
  10. + Base BuildingPoor odds36 devs · median $9.1k · 74 announced
  11. + Character CustomizationPoor odds50 devs · median $9.0k · 151 announced
  12. + Inventory ManagementPoor odds27 devs · median $6.9k · 61 announced

All 90 pairs on the Looter Shooter page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Shadow Warrior 2 2016 · $22M Soundfall 2022 · $896k HELLGATE: London 2018 · $865k Endless Alice 2025 · EA · $622k 我在地球修仙有系统 2023 · $431k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Shadow Warrior 2 older $29.99 24,120 87% 724k $22M (exactly $21,700,764) Flying Wild Hog
Soundfall older $29.99 996 73% 30k $896k (exactly $896,101) Drastic Games
HELLGATE: London older $12.99 2,219 57% 67k $865k (exactly $864,744) T3Entertainment
Endless Alice · EA $8.99 2,307 91% 69k $622k (exactly $622,198) HowlingRain, 台灣響雨互娛, 響雨@OSAKA
我在地球修仙有系统 older $14.99 959 70% 29k $431k (exactly $431,262) 红星
Dark Hunting Ground $12.99 771 92% 23k $300k (exactly $300,459) BingX
Almighty: Kill Your Gods · EA older $24.99 321 61% 9.6k $241k (exactly $240,654) RUNWILD Entertainment
Mind older $17.99 372 69% 11k $201k (exactly $200,768) WHIRLLAXY LIMITED
Soul's Chronicle: Immortal Slayer $14.99 441 77% 13k $198k (exactly $198,318) 正向星光工作室
Bioweaver $6.99 668 77% 20k $140k (exactly $140,080) Emprom Game, Wild Kid Games
Astroloot · EA $6.99 587 92% 18k $123k (exactly $123,094) Andreas Hager Gaming
Nakara $9.99 310 91% 9.3k $93k (exactly $92,907) R3dspike
The Last Survivors Harem $9.99 290 82% 8.7k $87k (exactly $86,913) Survival Strategy ！
Soulforge Lost Path $8.99 302 69% 9.1k $81k (exactly $81,449) Ziyue
Hunters Inc $14.99 155 56% 4.7k $70k (exactly $69,704) WYLDERZONE
XENO WIPEOUT! $9.99 34 79% 1.0k $10k (exactly $10,190) Rama Studio

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