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Should I ship a PvP Hack and Slash game?
PvP + Hack and Slash
Of 68 developers who shipped a paid PvP 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.. 5 in 10 of the games here are free to play and sit outside these figures. 239 more are announced, ×6.5 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 8 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $600, ×0.4 the market's $1.5k for a 8 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $150. 239 games are announced against 37 developers who shipped in the last year, ×6.5 per shipper, while revenue is up 125% on the market.
| Bottom 30% | $150 (exactly $150) |
|---|---|
| Median | $600 (exactly $600) |
| Top 25% | $6.1k (exactly $6,110) |
| Top 5% | $805k (exactly $805,397) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 68 |
| Released games | 324 |
| Announced | 239 |
| Effort | 8 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Low |
| Typical price | $5.99 |
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 125% on the market, supply 20% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 46%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is low: the lowest rating among its tags.
- PvP
- effort 8 / 10 · low · authoritative servers, latency compensation, cheating
- Hack and Slash
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 8 / 10 · online systems, open world
- Systems
- PvP, Hack and Slash; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, RPG, Combat
- Price point
- $5.99 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 $5.99.
The top 10 games average 69% positive over 14,535 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $150. 9 in 10 of the 50 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 239 games are announced against 37 developers who shipped in the last year, ×6.5 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
PvP with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + BaseballFair
- + TransportationFair
- + BasketballFair
- + Football (American)Fair
- + BikesFair
- + GolfFair
- + World War IFair
- + IncrementalFair
- + BilliardsFair
- + TennisLong shot
- + TypingLong shot
- + SpellingLong shot
Comparable games
Dying Light 2015 · $280M 
FOR HONOR™ 2017 · $98M 
MORDHAU 2019 · $82M 
Chivalry 2 2022 · $56M 
Chivalry: Medieval Warfare 2012 · $33M | 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 |
| | FOR HONOR™ | older | $29.99 | 108,492 69% | 3.3M | $98M (exactly $97,610,252) | Ubisoft Montreal, Ubisoft Quebec, Ubiso… (Ubisoft Montreal, Ubisoft Quebec, Ubisoft Toronto, Blue Byte) |
| | MORDHAU | older | $29.99 | 91,678 80% | 2.8M | $82M (exactly $82,482,697) | Triternion |
| | Chivalry 2 | older | $39.99 | 46,707 79% | 1.4M | $56M (exactly $56,034,388) | Torn Banner Studios |
| | Chivalry: Medieval Warfare | older | $24.99 | 44,486 83% | 1.3M | $33M (exactly $33,351,154) | Torn Banner Studios |
 | ONE PIECE: PIRATE WARRIORS 4 | older | $39.99 | 17,281 91% | 518k | $21M (exactly $20,732,016) | Koei Tecmo |
 | DAEMON X MACHINA | older | $49.99 | 6,172 85% | 185k | $9.3M (exactly $9,256,148) | Marvelous Inc. |
 | Solo Leveling: ARISE OVERDRIVE | $39.99 | 7,662 70% | 230k | $9.2M (exactly $9,192,101) | Netmarble Neo | |
 | Lost Castle / 失落城堡 | older | $9.99 | 18,417 87% | 553k | $5.5M (exactly $5,519,575) | Hunter Studio |
 | STRANGER OF PARADISE FINAL FANTASY ORIGIN | older | $39.99 | 3,735 82% | 112k | $4.5M (exactly $4,480,880) | Square Enix, KOEI TECMO GAMES CO., LTD. |
 | The Lord of the Rings: War in the North™ - Legacy Edition | $19.99 | 1,858 83% | 56k | $1.1M (exactly $1,114,243) | Aspyr Media | |
 | Renown | · EA | $24.99 | 1,128 53% | 34k | $846k (exactly $845,662) | RDBK Studios |
 | Sacred 2 Remaster | $19.99 | 1,343 54% | 40k | $805k (exactly $805,397) | SparklingBit, Funatics, Nukklear | |
 | LET IT DIE: INFERNO | $24.99 | 774 52% | 23k | $580k (exactly $580,268) | SUPERTRICK GAMES, Inc. | |
 | Gladio Mori | $15.99 | 1,147 82% | 34k | $550k (exactly $550,216) | Plebeian Studio | |
 | HOTEL BARCELONA | $29.99 | 269 71% | 8.1k | $242k (exactly $242,019) | White Owls Inc. | |
 | BEYBLADE X EVOBATTLE | $49.99 | 112 81% | 3.4k | $168k (exactly $167,966) | 株式会社グルーブボックスジャパン | |
 | Kiln | $7.99 | 154 74% | 4.6k | $37k (exactly $36,914) | Double Fine Productions | |
 | Morgenstern | · EA | $12.99 | 88 72% | 2.6k | $34k (exactly $34,294) | Doublesmith GmbH |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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