Games › Hack and Slash › Hack and Slash + Romance
Should I ship a Romance Hack and Slash game?
Hack and Slash + Romance
Only 11 developers shipped a Romance Hack and Slash game in the last 2 years, too few for firm odds: the middle one made est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.; the top game by est. revenue, Mahou Arms, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 25 more are announced, ×5.0 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $120k, ×189 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $5.9k; 1 in 20 cleared $740k, ×1181 the market median. Revenue is up 4905% on the market; 25 games are announced against 5 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $5.8k (exactly $5,846) |
|---|---|
| Median | $119k (exactly $118,668) |
| Top 25% | $260k (exactly $260,146) |
| Top 5% | $741k (exactly $741,415) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 11 |
| Released games | 56 |
| Announced | 25 |
| Effort | 5 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $12.99 |
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 4905% on the market, supply 15% fewer developers than the period before.
Free games: 11%, 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
- Romance
- effort 2 / 10 · high · effort 2 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Hack and Slash
- Price point
- $12.99 typical
Why players buy here
The top 10 games average 83% positive over 3,132 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $5.9k. 7 in 10 of the 7 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 25 games are announced against 5 developers who shipped in the last year, ×5.0 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
- + Visual NovelPoor odds
- + Character Action GamePoor odds
- + DestructionPoor odds
- + LGBTQ+Poor odds
- + AutomationPoor odds
- + MechsPoor odds
Comparable games
Tales of ARISE 2023 · $41M 
.hack//G.U. Last Recode 2017 · $5.3M 
Eternights 2023 · $2.7M 
Tokyo Xanadu eX+ 2017 · $2.4M 
Way of the Samurai 4 2015 · $1.5M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Tales of ARISE | older | $49.99 | 27,643 86% | 829k | $41M (exactly $41,456,207) | Bandai Namco Studios Inc. |
| | .hack//G.U. Last Recode | older | $49.99 | 3,510 87% | 105k | $5.3M (exactly $5,263,947) | CyberConnect2 |
| | Eternights | older | $29.99 | 3,046 85% | 91k | $2.7M (exactly $2,740,486) | Studio Sai |
| | Tokyo Xanadu eX+ | older | $59.99 | 1,328 86% | 40k | $2.4M (exactly $2,390,002) | Nihon Falcom |
| | Way of the Samurai 4 | older | $24.99 | 1,939 76% | 58k | $1.5M (exactly $1,453,668) | ACQUIRE Corp. |
 | Boyfriend Dungeon | older | $19.99 | 2,105 91% | 63k | $1.3M (exactly $1,262,368) | Kitfox Games |
 | Prince of Persia® | older | $9.99 | 3,717 78% | 112k | $1.1M (exactly $1,113,985) | Ubisoft Montreal |
 | Mahou Arms | $39.99 | 618 73% | 19k | $741k (exactly $741,415) | Dischan Media | |
 | Onimusha 2: Samurai's Destiny | $29.99 | 663 85% | 20k | $597k (exactly $596,501) | CAPCOM Co., Ltd. | |
 | Troublemaker | older | $19.99 | 938 89% | 28k | $563k (exactly $562,519) | Gamecom Team |
 | Tamer: King of Dinosaurs | · EA | $24.99 | 347 86% | 10k | $260k (exactly $260,146) | Ride the Lion Studios |
 | Gray Haven : Witch's Garden | $21.99 | 319 76% | 9.6k | $210k (exactly $210,444) | NINEHECTARE | |
 | Menherarium: Deadly Dice | $8.99 | 669 92% | 20k | $180k (exactly $180,429) | テスカトリポカ | |
 | Kats Trigger | · EA | $8.99 | 440 88% | 13k | $119k (exactly $118,668) | GIX |
 | Dungeons of Desire | · EA | $7.99 | 27 44% | 810 | $6.5k (exactly $6,472) | Fat Rooster |
 | Blood in the Panopticon | $12.99 | 15 100% | 450 | $5.8k (exactly $5,846) | SIS STYLE INTERACTIVE | |
 | Outbreak Zombie Plague | $3.99 | 32 34% | 960 | $3.8k (exactly $3,830) | Aurora Studios | |
 | タナトス-Thanatos- | $24.99 | 2 100% | 60 | $1.5k (exactly $1,499) | とらいあんぐる！ |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
Your address goes to Buttondown, which sends the letter, and nowhere else. Every issue has an unsubscribe link. No tracking beyond the open count Buttondown keeps.