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Should I ship a Martial-Arts Hack and Slash game?
Hack and Slash + Martial Arts
Of 45 developers who shipped a Martial-Arts 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.. 113 more are announced, ×4.9 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $2.7k, ×4.3 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $420; 1 in 20 cleared $3.7M, ×5977 the market median. Revenue is up 630% on the market; 113 games are announced against 23 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $419 (exactly $419) |
|---|---|
| Median | $2.7k (exactly $2,696) |
| Top 25% | $183k (exactly $182,578) |
| Top 5% | $3.8M (exactly $3,753,748) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 45 |
| Released games | 168 |
| Announced | 113 |
| Effort | 6 / 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 630% on the market, supply as many developers as the period before.
Free games: 13%, 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
- Martial Arts
- effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- Hack and Slash; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Action RPG, Action-Adventure
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Third Person, 3D, Gore
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 91% positive over 52,907 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $420. 7 in 10 of the 26 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 113 games are announced against 23 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.9 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
DYNASTY WARRIORS: ORIGINS 2025 · $41M 
Gujian3(古剑奇谭三) 2018 · $37M 
Sifu 2023 · $26M 
嗜血印 Bloody Spell 2022 · $26M 
Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty 2023 · $25M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | DYNASTY WARRIORS: ORIGINS | $69.99 | 19,578 92% | 587k | $41M (exactly $41,107,927) | KOEI TECMO GAMES CO., LTD. | |
| | Gujian3(古剑奇谭三) | older | $29.99 | 40,829 85% | 1.2M | $37M (exactly $36,733,851) | 上海烛龙信息科技有限公司, Aurogon Shanghai |
| | Sifu | older | $39.99 | 21,620 92% | 649k | $26M (exactly $25,937,514) | Sloclap |
| | 嗜血印 Bloody Spell | older | $24.99 | 34,184 89% | 1.0M | $26M (exactly $25,627,745) | 艺龙游戏 |
| | Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty | older | $39.99 | 20,873 49% | 626k | $25M (exactly $25,041,338) | KOEI TECMO GAMES CO., LTD. |
 | BIOMUTANT | older | $39.99 | 13,169 67% | 395k | $16M (exactly $15,798,849) | Experiment 101 |
 | Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name | older | $49.99 | 9,118 95% | 274k | $14M (exactly $13,674,265) | RGG Studio |
 | Judgment | older | $39.99 | 9,407 93% | 282k | $11M (exactly $11,285,578) | RGG Studio |
 | Sands of Salzaar | older | $14.99 | 21,428 81% | 643k | $9.6M (exactly $9,636,172) | 汉家松鼠Han-Squirrel Studio |
 | Dead as Disco | · EA | $24.99 | 12,354 96% | 371k | $9.3M (exactly $9,261,794) | Brain Jar Games, Inc. |
 | NINJA GAIDEN 2 Black | $49.99 | 3,289 78% | 99k | $4.9M (exactly $4,932,513) | KOEI TECMO GAMES CO., LTD. | |
 | Realm of Ink | $24.99 | 5,007 90% | 150k | $3.8M (exactly $3,753,748) | Leap Studio | |
 | SHINOBI: Art of Vengeance | $29.99 | 3,564 83% | 107k | $3.2M (exactly $3,206,531) | SEGA, Lizardcube | |
 | NINJA GAIDEN: Ragebound | $24.99 | 2,500 92% | 75k | $1.9M (exactly $1,874,250) | The Game Kitchen | |
 | WARRIORS: Abyss | $24.99 | 2,015 85% | 60k | $1.5M (exactly $1,510,646) | KOEI TECMO GAMES CO., LTD. | |
 | KIBORG | $24.99 | 1,221 84% | 37k | $915k (exactly $915,384) | Sobaka Studio | |
 | LIZARDS MUST DIE 2 | $9.99 | 2,232 94% | 67k | $669k (exactly $668,930) | the Bratans, Smola Game Studio | |
 | Gladio Mori | $15.99 | 1,147 82% | 34k | $550k (exactly $550,216) | Plebeian Studio |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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