Do I ship it?

Games › Hack and Slash › Hack and Slash + Mechs

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Mech Hack and Slash game?

Hack and Slash + Mechs

Only 17 developers shipped a Mech Hack and Slash game in the last 2 years, too few for firm odds: the middle one made est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.; the top game by est. revenue, Daemon X Machina: Titanic Scion, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 40 more are announced, ×5.0 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $16k, ×25 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $360; 1 in 20 cleared $3.8M, ×6145 the market median. Revenue is down 100% on the market; 40 games are announced against 8 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 24.8 times the market baseline, revenue down 100% on the market, 40 announced, ×5.0 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Hack and Slash + Mechs
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 17
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $2.4k → $671k → $235k → $1.3k → $33k → $2.8M → $657 (still earning) → $450 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Hack and Slash + Mechs: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 17
Bottom 30% $359 (exactly $359)
Median $16k (exactly $15,561)
Top 25% $84k (exactly $83,670)
Top 5% $3.9M (exactly $3,859,249)
Developers, 2 yr 17
Released games 69
Announced 40
Effort 6 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $7.99

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 100% on the market, supply 10% fewer developers than the period before.

Free games: 3%, 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 medium: the lowest rating among its tags.

Hack and Slash
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
Mechs
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
Systems
Hack and Slash; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Character Customization, Action RPG
Price point
$7.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Third Person, 3D, Anime
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.

The top 10 games average 78% positive over 7,791 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $360, median $16k, 1 in 4 over $83k, 1 in 20 over $3.8M.

3 in 10 developers made under $360. 4 in 10 of the 9 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 40 games are announced against 8 developers who shipped in the last year, ×5.0 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Hack and Slash with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + Turn-BasedStrong odds8 devs · median $14k · 1 announced
  2. + Turn-Based CombatStrong odds28 devs · median $3.7k · 27 announced
  3. + VampiresFair32 devs · median $7.2k · 37 announced
  4. + ModernFair13 devs · median $7.2k · 20 announced
  5. + IdlerFair32 devs · median $6.4k · 50 announced
  6. + IncrementalFair40 devs · median $1.7k · 57 announced
  7. + RomancePoor odds11 devs · median $119k · 25 announced
  8. + Visual NovelPoor odds11 devs · median $85k · 22 announced
  9. + Character Action GamePoor odds27 devs · median $58k · 80 announced
  10. + DestructionPoor odds19 devs · median $43k · 57 announced
  11. + LGBTQ+Poor odds17 devs · median $33k · 20 announced
  12. + AutomationPoor odds12 devs · median $21k · 26 announced

All 175 pairs on the Hack and Slash page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

METAL GEAR RISING: REVENGEANCE 2014 · $62M EARTH DEFENSE FORCE 5 2019 · $17M HELLDIVERS™ Dive Harder Edition 2015 · $15M DAEMON X MACHINA 2020 · $9.3M SD GUNDAM BATTLE ALLIANCE 2022 · $8.8M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
METAL GEAR RISING: REVENGEANCE older $29.99 69,104 96% 2.1M $62M (exactly $62,172,869) PlatinumGames
EARTH DEFENSE FORCE 5 older $59.99 9,375 93% 281k $17M (exactly $16,872,188) SANDLOT
HELLDIVERS™ Dive Harder Edition older $19.99 25,663 90% 770k $15M (exactly $15,390,101) Arrowhead Game Studios
DAEMON X MACHINA older $49.99 6,172 85% 185k $9.3M (exactly $9,256,148) Marvelous Inc.
SD GUNDAM BATTLE ALLIANCE older $59.99 4,892 62% 147k $8.8M (exactly $8,804,132) ARTDINK
The Surge 2 older $29.99 7,477 75% 224k $6.7M (exactly $6,727,057) Deck13
Vanquish older $19.99 6,974 89% 209k $4.2M (exactly $4,182,308) PlatinumGames, Little Stone Software
The Surge older $14.99 9,161 75% 275k $4.1M (exactly $4,119,702) Deck13
Daemon X Machina: Titanic Scion $69.99 1,838 63% 55k $3.9M (exactly $3,859,249) Marvelous Inc.
M.A.S.S. Builder $24.99 3,729 85% 112k $2.8M (exactly $2,795,631) Vermillion Digital
Metal Bringer $19.99 1,109 87% 33k $665k (exactly $665,067) ALPHAWING Inc.
Bounty Star $24.99 159 65% 4.8k $119k (exactly $119,202) DINOGOD
Time Treker $6.99 399 65% 12k $84k (exactly $83,670) Fuse Game
9th Sentinel Sisters $7.99 273 69% 8.2k $65k (exactly $65,438) Live Wire
Haneda Girl $14.99 74 94% 2.2k $33k (exactly $33,278) Studio Koba
Jenny the Witch $7.99 69 88% 2.1k $17k (exactly $16,539) Catbird Soft
Ghosts Keep Out $3.99 130 75% 3.9k $16k (exactly $15,561) Only Fun Games
Virus Hunter $1.99 11 81% 330 $657 (exactly $657) Matsusoft

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