Games › Hack and Slash › Hack and Slash + Runner
Should I ship a Runner Hack and Slash game?
Hack and Slash + Runner
Only 15 developers shipped a Runner 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, Bloodthief, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 39 more are announced, ×3.9 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $300, ×0.5 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $50. 39 games are announced against 10 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.9 per shipper, while revenue is down 95% on the market.
| Bottom 30% | $0 (exactly $0) |
|---|---|
| Median | $299 (exactly $299) |
| Top 25% | $6.7k (exactly $6,742) |
| Top 5% | $610k (exactly $609,895) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 15 |
| Released games | 66 |
| Announced | 39 |
| Effort | 5 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $4.99 |
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 95% on the market, supply 100% more 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
- Runner
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Hack and Slash, Runner; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Swordplay, 3D Platformer
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 8 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Difficult, Fast-Paced, First-Person
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 93% positive over 1,265 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $50. 8 in 10 of the 5 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 39 games are announced against 10 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.9 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
Ghostrunner 2 2023 · $9.6M 
Bloodthief 2025 · $610k 
Super Meat Boy Forever 2022 · $282k 
Rabbit Riot 2021 · $59k 
Sex Apocalypse 2 2023 · $58k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Ghostrunner 2 | older | $39.99 | 7,981 80% | 239k | $9.6M (exactly $9,574,806) | One More Level |
| | Bloodthief | $19.99 | 1,017 95% | 31k | $610k (exactly $609,895) | Blargis | |
| | Super Meat Boy Forever | older | $4.99 | 1,881 58% | 56k | $282k (exactly $281,586) | Team Meat |
| | Rabbit Riot | older | $39.99 | 49 87% | 1.5k | $59k (exactly $58,785) | Reactor Studios |
| | Sex Apocalypse 2 | older | $9.99 | 195 55% | 5.9k | $58k (exactly $58,442) | Octo Games |
 | Hell of an Office | $14.99 | 121 89% | 3.6k | $54k (exactly $54,414) | 43 Studios | |
 | 绝命游歌 | older | $6.99 | 159 82% | 4.8k | $33k (exactly $33,342) | DreamStep, Wild Kid Games |
 | SpeedOverflow | older | $4.99 | 116 72% | 3.5k | $17k (exactly $17,365) | 狼烟 |
 | Zombie Simulator | older | $4.99 | 100 81% | 3.0k | $15k (exactly $14,970) | ZHANG FAN |
 | RHYTHMKILL | $9.99 | 45 82% | 1.4k | $13k (exactly $13,486) | GETTAKE | |
 | EvoWars: New Era | $8.99 | 25 72% | 750 | $6.7k (exactly $6,742) | Night Steed Games | |
 | Super Miners | · EA | $9.99 | 13 92% | 390 | $3.9k (exactly $3,896) | METAGAR |
 | the Shadow of Swallow | $3.99 | 30 76% | 900 | $3.6k (exactly $3,591) | Raine Studio | |
 | Vanguard - Idle Auto Battler | $2.99 | 7 57% | 210 | $628 (exactly $628) | Beep2Bleep | |
 | Zodiac Revenger | $4.99 | 2 50% | 60 | $299 (exactly $299) | Backwards Art | |
 | NecroKitty | $1.99 | 4 100% | 120 | $239 (exactly $239) | GOTH PUPPY GAMES, thegoblinworks | |
 | Everyone Moves With You | $3.99 | 1 100% | 30 | $120 (exactly $120) | DIG Games |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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