Games › Hack and Slash › Hack and Slash + Magic
Should I ship a Magic Hack and Slash game?
Hack and Slash + Magic
Of 290 developers who shipped a Magic 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.. 591 more are announced, ×3.3 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.9k, ×3.1 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $540; 1 in 20 cleared $610k, ×976 the market median. Revenue is up 240% on the market; 591 games are announced against 178 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $539 (exactly $539) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.9k (exactly $1,946) |
| Top 25% | $11k (exactly $10,500) |
| Top 5% | $613k (exactly $613,025) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 290 |
| Released games | 809 |
| Announced | 591 |
| 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 240% on the market, supply 55% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 16%, 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
- Magic
- 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; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, RPG, Action RPG
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 4 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 81% positive over 64,507 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $540. 9 in 10 of the 135 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 591 games are announced against 178 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.3 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Hack and Slash with a different setting or mood, 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
Middle-earth™: Shadow of War™ 2017 · $132M 
Last Epoch 2024 · $112M 
Granblue Fantasy: Relink 2024 · $49M 
Tales of ARISE 2023 · $41M 
NieR Replicant™ ver.1.22474487139... 2021 · $39M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Middle-earth™: Shadow of War™ | older | $49.99 | 87,777 88% | 2.6M | $132M (exactly $131,639,167) | Monolith Productions |
| | Last Epoch | older | $34.99 | 106,364 76% | 3.2M | $112M (exactly $111,650,291) | Eleventh Hour Games |
| | Granblue Fantasy: Relink | older | $39.99 | 41,227 89% | 1.2M | $49M (exactly $49,460,032) | Cygames, Inc. |
| | Tales of ARISE | older | $49.99 | 27,643 86% | 829k | $41M (exactly $41,456,207) | Bandai Namco Studios Inc. |
| | NieR Replicant™ ver.1.22474487139... | older | $59.99 | 21,493 88% | 645k | $39M (exactly $38,680,952) | Square Enix, Toylogic Inc. |
 | Middle-earth™: Shadow of Mordor™ | older | $19.99 | 63,815 92% | 1.9M | $38M (exactly $38,269,856) | Monolith Productions |
 | FINAL FANTASY XVI | $49.99 | 24,065 78% | 722k | $36M (exactly $36,090,280) | Square Enix | |
 | Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen | older | $29.99 | 37,437 88% | 1.1M | $34M (exactly $33,682,069) | Capcom |
 | KINGDOM HEARTS -HD 1.5+2.5 ReMIX- | older | $49.99 | 10,471 86% | 314k | $16M (exactly $15,703,359) | Square Enix |
 | Shape of Dreams | $24.99 | 15,769 89% | 473k | $12M (exactly $11,822,019) | Lizard Smoothie | |
 | SWORD ART ONLINE Fractured Daydream | $59.99 | 2,021 64% | 61k | $3.6M (exactly $3,637,194) | Dimps Corporation | |
 | Fatekeeper | · EA | $9.99 | 10,605 80% | 318k | $3.2M (exactly $3,178,318) | Paraglacial |
 | Legacy of Kain™ Soul Reaver 1&2 Remastered | $29.99 | 3,042 90% | 91k | $2.7M (exactly $2,736,887) | Aspyr, Crystal Dynamics | |
 | Alaloth: Champions of The Four Kingdoms | $34.99 | 1,559 72% | 47k | $1.6M (exactly $1,636,482) | Gamera Interactive | |
 | Alabaster Dawn | · EA | $24.99 | 2,168 94% | 65k | $1.6M (exactly $1,625,350) | Radical Fish Games |
 | Ys X: Nordics | $59.99 | 890 76% | 27k | $1.6M (exactly $1,601,733) | Nihon Falcom, PH3 GmbH | |
 | Wizard of Legend 2 | $24.99 | 1,968 53% | 59k | $1.5M (exactly $1,475,410) | Dead Mage | |
 | Dinoblade | $19.99 | 2,420 90% | 73k | $1.5M (exactly $1,451,274) | Team Spino LLC |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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