Games › Hack and Slash › Hack and Slash + Post-apocalyptic
Should I ship a Post-apocalyptic Hack and Slash game?
Hack and Slash + Post-apocalyptic
Of 73 developers who shipped a Post-apocalyptic 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.. 206 more are announced, ×5.7 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $2.4k, ×3.8 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $300; 1 in 20 cleared $3.0M, ×4905 the market median. Revenue is flat on the market; 206 games are announced against 36 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $300 (exactly $300) |
|---|---|
| Median | $2.4k (exactly $2,397) |
| Top 25% | $15k (exactly $15,290) |
| Top 5% | $3.1M (exactly $3,080,573) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 73 |
| Released games | 242 |
| Announced | 206 |
| 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 flat on the market, supply as many developers as 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
- Post-apocalyptic
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 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, Action-Adventure, Adventure
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Third Person
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 90% positive over 99,530 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $300. 8 in 10 of the 42 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 206 games are announced against 36 developers who shipped in the last year, ×5.7 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
Dying Light 2015 · $280M 
NieR:Automata™ 2017 · $138M 
Stellar Blade™ 2025 · $110M 
CODE VEIN 2019 · $83M 
Killing Floor 2 2016 · $78M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Dying Light | older | $24.99 | 373,413 95% | 11M | $280M (exactly $279,947,726) | Techland |
| | NieR:Automata™ | older | $39.99 | 115,103 88% | 3.5M | $138M (exactly $138,089,069) | Square Enix, PlatinumGames Inc. |
| | Stellar Blade™ | $59.99 | 61,289 93% | 1.8M | $110M (exactly $110,301,813) | SHIFT UP Corporation | |
| | CODE VEIN | older | $59.99 | 46,315 83% | 1.4M | $83M (exactly $83,353,106) | Bandai Namco Studios |
| | Killing Floor 2 | older | $29.99 | 87,158 88% | 2.6M | $78M (exactly $78,416,053) | Tripwire Interactive |
 | Grim Dawn | older | $24.99 | 92,979 93% | 2.8M | $70M (exactly $69,706,356) | Crate Entertainment |
 | Ghostrunner | older | $29.99 | 46,818 91% | 1.4M | $42M (exactly $42,122,155) | One More Level, 3D Realms, Slipgate Iro… (One More Level, 3D Realms, Slipgate Ironworks™, All in! Games) |
 | NieR Replicant™ ver.1.22474487139... | older | $59.99 | 21,493 88% | 645k | $39M (exactly $38,680,952) | Square Enix, Toylogic Inc. |
 | Dead Island 2 | older | $49.99 | 23,309 77% | 699k | $35M (exactly $34,956,507) | Dambuster Studios |
 | AI LIMIT | $34.99 | 22,833 92% | 685k | $24M (exactly $23,967,800) | Sense Games | |
 | MOTORSLICE | $19.99 | 5,467 85% | 164k | $3.3M (exactly $3,278,560) | Regular Studio | |
 | Hyper Light Breaker | · EA | $29.99 | 3,424 52% | 103k | $3.1M (exactly $3,080,573) | Heart Machine |
 | M.A.S.S. Builder | $24.99 | 3,729 85% | 112k | $2.8M (exactly $2,795,631) | Vermillion Digital | |
 | LET IT DIE: INFERNO | $24.99 | 774 52% | 23k | $580k (exactly $580,268) | SUPERTRICK GAMES, Inc. | |
 | OVIS LOOP | · EA | $16.99 | 1,083 88% | 32k | $552k (exactly $552,005) | LIFUEL |
 | Coridden | $19.99 | 426 89% | 13k | $255k (exactly $255,472) | Aftnareld | |
 | Dark Light: Survivor | · EA | $16.99 | 346 75% | 10k | $176k (exactly $176,356) | Mirari&Co. |
 | Bounty Star | $24.99 | 159 65% | 4.8k | $119k (exactly $119,202) | DINOGOD |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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