Do I ship it?

Games › Hack and Slash › Hack and Slash + Roguelike

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Roguelike Hack and Slash game?

Hack and Slash + Roguelike

Of 445 developers who shipped a Roguelike 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.. 681 more are announced, ×2.4 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $2.3k, ×3.7 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $450; 1 in 20 cleared $1.2M, ×1966 the market median. Revenue is down 35% on the market; 681 games are announced against 278 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 3.7 times the market baseline, revenue down 35% on the market, 681 announced, ×2.4 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Hack and Slash + Roguelike
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 445
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $3.8k → $2.7k → $4.7k → $2.2k → $6.0k → $3.4k → $1.9k (still earning) → $1.0k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Hack and Slash + Roguelike: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 445
Bottom 30% $450 (exactly $450)
Median $2.3k (exactly $2,317)
Top 25% $41k (exactly $41,372)
Top 5% $1.2M (exactly $1,234,455)
Developers, 2 yr 445
Released games 1,020
Announced 681
Effort 5 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $7.99

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 60% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 10%, 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
Roguelike
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, Roguelike; 9 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Action Roguelike, Roguelite
Price point
$7.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
Art
3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, 3D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.

The top 10 games average 93% positive over 320,951 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 $2.3k, 1 in 4 over $41k, 1 in 20 over $1.2M.

3 in 10 developers made under $450. 7 in 10 of the 198 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 681 games are announced against 278 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.4 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

Hades 2020 · $214M Dead Cells 2018 · $117M Hades II 2025 · $103M Skul: The Hero Slayer 2021 · $30M Megabonk 2025 · $30M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Hades older $24.99 285,748 97% 8.6M $214M (exactly $214,225,276) Supergiant Games
Dead Cells older $24.99 156,263 97% 4.7M $117M (exactly $117,150,371) Motion Twin
Hades II $29.99 114,419 95% 3.4M $103M (exactly $102,942,774) Supergiant Games
Skul: The Hero Slayer older $19.99 50,801 93% 1.5M $30M (exactly $30,465,360) SOUTHPAW GAMES
Megabonk $9.99 100,202 94% 3.0M $30M (exactly $30,030,539) vedinad
Sifu older $39.99 21,620 92% 649k $26M (exactly $25,937,514) Sloclap
嗜血印 Bloody Spell older $24.99 34,184 89% 1.0M $26M (exactly $25,627,745) 艺龙游戏
Brotato older $4.99 111,407 95% 3.3M $17M (exactly $16,677,628) Blobfish
Ravenswatch $24.99 16,908 79% 507k $13M (exactly $12,675,928) Passtech Games
Children of Morta older $21.99 18,213 88% 546k $12M (exactly $12,015,116) Dead Mage
Soulstone Survivors $14.99 25,749 91% 772k $12M (exactly $11,579,325) Game Smithing Limited
Windblown · EA $24.99 9,066 88% 272k $6.8M (exactly $6,796,780) Motion Twin
Rotwood $29.99 7,459 74% 224k $6.7M (exactly $6,710,862) Klei Entertainment
Halls of Torment $6.66 30,752 95% 923k $6.1M (exactly $6,144,250) Chasing Carrots
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

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