Games › Hack and Slash › Hack and Slash + Procedural Generation
Should I ship a Procedural Generation Hack and Slash game?
Hack and Slash + Procedural Generation
Of 156 developers who shipped a Procedural Generation 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.. 290 more are announced, ×3.5 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $2.7k, ×4.3 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $420; 1 in 20 cleared $910k, ×1458 the market median. Revenue is up 165% on the market; 290 games are announced against 83 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $420 (exactly $420) |
|---|---|
| Median | $2.7k (exactly $2,699) |
| Top 25% | $30k (exactly $29,683) |
| Top 5% | $915k (exactly $915,384) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 156 |
| Released games | 411 |
| Announced | 290 |
| 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 up 165% on the market, supply 15% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 8%, 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
- Procedural Generation
- 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, Procedural Generation; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, RPG, Roguelike
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 86% positive over 40,192 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $420. 8 in 10 of the 78 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 290 games are announced against 83 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.5 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
Dead Cells 2018 · $117M 
鬼谷八荒 Tale of Immortal 2023 · $114M 
The Riftbreaker 2021 · $20M 
BlazBlue Entropy Effect 2024 · $18M 
Children of Morta 2019 · $12M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Dead Cells | older | $24.99 | 156,263 97% | 4.7M | $117M (exactly $117,150,371) | Motion Twin |
| | 鬼谷八荒 Tale of Immortal | older | $19.99 | 190,184 56% | 5.7M | $114M (exactly $114,053,345) | 鬼谷工作室 |
| | The Riftbreaker | older | $29.99 | 22,127 90% | 664k | $20M (exactly $19,907,662) | EXOR Studios |
| | BlazBlue Entropy Effect | older | $19.99 | 30,410 94% | 912k | $18M (exactly $18,236,877) | 91Act |
| | Children of Morta | older | $21.99 | 18,213 88% | 546k | $12M (exactly $12,015,116) | Dead Mage |
 | Tribes of Midgard | older | $19.99 | 17,465 76% | 524k | $10M (exactly $10,473,760) | Norsfell |
 | Moonlighter | older | $19.99 | 17,286 82% | 519k | $10M (exactly $10,366,414) | Digital Sun |
 | Wizard of Legend | older | $15.99 | 17,322 91% | 520k | $8.3M (exactly $8,309,363) | Contingent99 |
 | Windblown | · EA | $24.99 | 9,066 88% | 272k | $6.8M (exactly $6,796,780) | Motion Twin |
 | Death Must Die | · EA older | $6.99 | 20,937 90% | 628k | $4.4M (exactly $4,390,489) | Realm Archive |
 | Mortal Sin | $24.99 | 5,583 94% | 167k | $4.2M (exactly $4,185,575) | Nikola Todorovic | |
 | Realm of Ink | $24.99 | 5,007 90% | 150k | $3.8M (exactly $3,753,748) | Leap Studio | |
 | Heroes of Hammerwatch II | $19.99 | 5,806 82% | 174k | $3.5M (exactly $3,481,858) | Crackshell | |
 | SWORN | $24.99 | 3,779 80% | 113k | $2.8M (exactly $2,833,116) | Windwalk Games | |
 | Moonlighter 2: The Endless Vault | $29.99 | 3,146 80% | 94k | $2.8M (exactly $2,830,456) | Digital Sun | |
 | Cinderia | · EA | $17.99 | 4,763 88% | 143k | $2.6M (exactly $2,570,591) | MyACG Studio |
 | KIBORG | $24.99 | 1,221 84% | 37k | $915k (exactly $915,384) | Sobaka Studio | |
 | Towerborne | $24.99 | 1,057 69% | 32k | $792k (exactly $792,433) | Stoic | |
 | Beyond the Map | · EA | $19.99 | 764 77% | 23k | $458k (exactly $458,171) | Glitch Goblins |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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