Do I ship it?

GamesHack and SlashHack and Slash + Precision Platformer

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Precision Platformer Hack and Slash game?

Hack and Slash + Precision Platformer

Of 25 developers who shipped a Precision 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.. 40 more are announced, ×3.6 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $1.8k, ×2.9 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $450; 1 in 20 cleared $54k, ×87 the market median. Revenue is down 50% on the market; 40 games are announced against 11 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 2.9 times the market baseline, revenue down 50% on the market, 40 announced, ×3.6 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Hack and Slash + Precision Platformer
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 25
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $16k → $269 → $2.2k → $5.1k → $3.3k → $2.6k → $1.3k (still earning) → $2.2k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Hack and Slash + Precision Platformer: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 25
Bottom 30% $448 (exactly $448)
Median $1.8k (exactly $1,799)
Top 25% $6.9k (exactly $6,886)
Top 5% $54k (exactly $54,414)
Developers, 2 yr 25
Released games 93
Announced 40
Effort 5 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $6.99

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 50% on the market, supply 20% fewer developers than the period before.

Free games: 11%, 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
Precision Platformer
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
Systems
Hack and Slash, Precision Platformer; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, 2D Platformer, Action-Adventure
Price point
$6.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
Art
6 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Pixel Graphics, 2D, Colorful
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.

The top 10 games average 81% positive over 539 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $450, median $1.8k, 1 in 4 over $6.8k, 1 in 20 over $54k.

3 in 10 developers made under $450. 9 in 10 of the 16 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 40 games are announced against 11 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.6 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Hack and Slash with a different second tag, 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

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
BlazBlue Entropy Effect older $19.99 30,410 94% 912k $18M (exactly $18,236,877) 91Act
Prince of Persia The Lost Crown older $29.99 6,754 84% 203k $6.1M (exactly $6,076,574) Ubisoft Montpellier
Blue Fire older $19.99 1,908 83% 57k $1.1M (exactly $1,144,228) Robi Studios
They Bleed Pixels older $9.99 2,040 84% 61k $611k (exactly $611,388) Spooky Squid Games Inc.
Olija older $14.99 910 89% 27k $409k (exactly $409,227) Skeleton Crew Studio, Thomas Olsson
Super Meat Boy Forever older $4.99 1,881 58% 56k $282k (exactly $281,586) Team Meat
Abathor older $14.99 331 89% 9.9k $149k (exactly $148,851) Pow Pixel Games
Outrider Mako $17.99 121 65% 3.6k $65k (exactly $65,304) Asamado Games
Hell of an Office $14.99 121 89% 3.6k $54k (exactly $54,414) 43 Studios
Volgarr the Viking II older $19.99 85 81% 2.6k $51k (exactly $50,974) Digital Eclipse, Crazy Viking Studios
Beholgar 2 $11.99 77 80% 2.3k $28k (exactly $27,697) Serkan Bakar
Sacre Bleu $14.99 46 82% 1.4k $21k (exactly $20,686) Hildring Studio Inc
Atomic Owl $12.99 30 90% 900 $12k (exactly $11,691) Monster Theater
LarsGadiel $9.99 39 82% 1.2k $12k (exactly $11,688) Diabolical Mind
SwooshCat $4.99 46 86% 1.4k $6.9k (exactly $6,886) PixelForestStudio
Slime Clicker $4.99 26 92% 780 $3.9k (exactly $3,892) Kyiv Indie Titans
Jaded $4.99 22 90% 660 $3.3k (exactly $3,293) ShellSnore Games
Roid Chimp $7.99 11 90% 330 $2.6k (exactly $2,637) Robert Panichpakdee

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