Games › Hack and Slash › Hack and Slash + Music
Should I ship a Music Hack and Slash game?
Hack and Slash + Music
Only 6 developers shipped a Music 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, Dead as Disco, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 18 more are announced, ×4.5 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: dead, for a 5 / 10 build.
Only 4 developers shipped this in the last year, under the 5 a verdict needs; over 2 years the middle one made $21k against a market of $630. 18 games are announced.
not enough cohorts to draw
| Bottom 30% | $3.1k (exactly $3,148) |
|---|---|
| Median | $21k (exactly $20,686) |
| Top 25% | $58k (exactly $57,562) |
| Top 5% | $9.3M (exactly $9,261,794) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 6 |
| Released games | 30 |
| Announced | 18 |
| Effort | 5 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $14.99 |
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 too few recent games to read momentum, supply 100% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 17%, 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
- Music
- 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
- Price point
- $14.99 typical
Why players buy here
Fewer than 10 games in the last 2 years; sentiment and price figures use the all window.
The top 25% priced at $39.99 or above; the middle game at $14.99.
The top 10 games average 96% positive over 969,841 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $3.2k. 18 games are announced against 4 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.5 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
Black Myth: Wukong 2024 · $1.6B 
Hi-Fi RUSH 2023 · $25M 
Bastion 2011 · $13M 
Ghostrunner 2 2023 · $9.6M 
Dead as Disco 2026 · EA · $9.3M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Black Myth: Wukong | older | $59.99 | 881,186 96% | 26M | $1.6B (exactly $1,585,870,444) | Game Science |
| | Hi-Fi RUSH | older | $29.99 | 27,454 97% | 824k | $25M (exactly $24,700,364) | Tango Gameworks |
| | Bastion | older | $14.99 | 28,223 95% | 847k | $13M (exactly $12,691,883) | Supergiant Games |
| | Ghostrunner 2 | older | $39.99 | 7,981 80% | 239k | $9.6M (exactly $9,574,806) | One More Level |
| | Dead as Disco | · EA | $24.99 | 12,354 96% | 371k | $9.3M (exactly $9,261,794) | Brain Jar Games, Inc. |
 | Brutal Legend | older | $14.99 | 11,365 94% | 341k | $5.1M (exactly $5,110,840) | Double Fine Productions |
 | Soundfall | older | $29.99 | 996 73% | 30k | $896k (exactly $896,101) | Drastic Games |
 | DrumBeats VR | $14.99 | 128 65% | 3.8k | $58k (exactly $57,562) | Marcel Eissens, VRROOM Ultimate VR Expe… (Marcel Eissens, VRROOM Ultimate VR Experiences BV) | |
 | Fruit Ninja VR 2 | older | $24.99 | 74 75% | 2.2k | $55k (exactly $55,478) | Halfbrick Studios Pty Ltd |
 | Beat Slayer | older | $19.99 | 80 88% | 2.4k | $48k (exactly $47,976) | ByteRockers' Games |
 | Metavoidal | $14.99 | 46 93% | 1.4k | $21k (exactly $20,686) | Yellow Lab Games | |
 | RHYTHMKILL | $9.99 | 45 82% | 1.4k | $13k (exactly $13,486) | GETTAKE | |
 | Smasher | $14.99 | 7 85% | 210 | $3.1k (exactly $3,148) | Smasher Team, Bear Head Studio | |
 | Fresh Tracks VR | $19.99 | 2 100% | 60 | $1.2k (exactly $1,199) | Buffalo Buffalo |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
Your address goes to Buttondown, which sends the letter, and nowhere else. Every issue has an unsubscribe link. No tracking beyond the open count Buttondown keeps.