Games › Hack and Slash › Hack and Slash + Platformer
Should I ship a Platformer Hack and Slash game?
Hack and Slash + Platformer
Of 160 developers who shipped a Platformer 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.. 383 more are announced, ×4.2 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $2.2k, ×3.6 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $420; 1 in 20 cleared $670k, ×1070 the market median. Revenue is down 35% on the market; 383 games are announced against 91 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $419 (exactly $419) |
|---|---|
| Median | $2.2k (exactly $2,246) |
| Top 25% | $21k (exactly $21,094) |
| Top 5% | $672k (exactly $672,264) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 160 |
| Released games | 621 |
| Announced | 383 |
| 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 down 35% on the market, supply 25% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 11%, 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
- Platformer
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Hack and Slash, Platformer; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Adventure, 2D Platformer
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Atmospheric, Pixel Graphics
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 90% positive over 28,898 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $420. 8 in 10 of the 84 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 383 games are announced against 91 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.2 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Hack and Slash with a different second tag, 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
STAR WARS Jedi: Fallen Order™ 2019 · $184M 
Dead Cells 2018 · $117M 
Blasphemous 2019 · $41M 
Skul: The Hero Slayer 2021 · $30M 
Katana ZERO 2019 · $30M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | STAR WARS Jedi: Fallen Order™ | older | $39.99 | 153,782 88% | 4.6M | $184M (exactly $184,492,265) | Respawn Entertainment |
| | Dead Cells | older | $24.99 | 156,263 97% | 4.7M | $117M (exactly $117,150,371) | Motion Twin |
| | Blasphemous | older | $24.99 | 54,724 90% | 1.6M | $41M (exactly $41,026,583) | The Game Kitchen |
| | Skul: The Hero Slayer | older | $19.99 | 50,801 93% | 1.5M | $30M (exactly $30,465,360) | SOUTHPAW GAMES |
| | Katana ZERO | older | $14.99 | 66,341 97% | 2.0M | $30M (exactly $29,833,548) | Askiisoft |
 | Sonic Frontiers | older | $39.99 | 22,701 90% | 681k | $27M (exactly $27,234,390) | Sonic Team |
 | Hi-Fi RUSH | older | $29.99 | 27,454 97% | 824k | $25M (exactly $24,700,364) | Tango Gameworks |
 | DmC: Devil May Cry | older | $29.99 | 20,938 93% | 628k | $19M (exactly $18,837,919) | Ninja Theory |
 | BlazBlue Entropy Effect | older | $19.99 | 30,410 94% | 912k | $18M (exactly $18,236,877) | 91Act |
 | Blasphemous 2 | older | $29.99 | 16,808 91% | 504k | $15M (exactly $15,122,158) | The Game Kitchen |
 | MOTORSLICE | $19.99 | 5,467 85% | 164k | $3.3M (exactly $3,278,560) | Regular Studio | |
 | SHINOBI: Art of Vengeance | $29.99 | 3,564 83% | 107k | $3.2M (exactly $3,206,531) | SEGA, Lizardcube | |
 | Stick It to the Stickman | · EA | $11.99 | 7,918 96% | 238k | $2.8M (exactly $2,848,105) | Free Lives |
 | Legacy of Kain™ Soul Reaver 1&2 Remastered | $29.99 | 3,042 90% | 91k | $2.7M (exactly $2,736,887) | Aspyr, Crystal Dynamics | |
 | The Rogue Prince of Persia | $29.99 | 2,393 89% | 72k | $2.2M (exactly $2,152,982) | Evil Empire | |
 | NINJA GAIDEN: Ragebound | $24.99 | 2,500 92% | 75k | $1.9M (exactly $1,874,250) | The Game Kitchen | |
 | Duskfade | $29.99 | 793 91% | 24k | $713k (exactly $713,462) | Weird Beluga | |
 | AWAKEN - Astral Blade | $19.99 | 1,121 82% | 34k | $672k (exactly $672,264) | Dark Pigeon Games | |
 | Bloodthief | $19.99 | 1,017 95% | 31k | $610k (exactly $609,895) | Blargis | |
 | OVIS LOOP | · EA | $16.99 | 1,083 88% | 32k | $552k (exactly $552,005) | LIFUEL |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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