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Should I ship a Hack and Slash Sandbox?
Sandbox + Hack and Slash
Of 54 developers who shipped a Hack and Slash Sandbox 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.. 120 more are announced, ×3.6 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $4.9k, ×7.9 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $720; 1 in 20 cleared $840k, ×1347 the market median. Revenue is up 190% on the market; 120 games are announced against 33 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $719 (exactly $719) |
|---|---|
| Median | $4.9k (exactly $4,947) |
| Top 25% | $96k (exactly $95,952) |
| Top 5% | $846k (exactly $845,662) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 54 |
| Released games | 197 |
| Announced | 120 |
| Effort | 6 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $11.99 |
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 190% on the market, supply 55% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 21%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Sandbox
- effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
- Hack and Slash
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- Sandbox, Hack and Slash; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, RPG, Open World
- Price point
- $11.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $11.99.
The top 10 games average 72% positive over 37,371 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $720. 7 in 10 of the 23 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 120 games are announced against 33 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.6 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Sandbox with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + FightingStrong odds
- + Turn-BasedFair
- + World War IIFair
- + MinigamesFair
- + ProgrammingFair
- + CatsFair
- + SportsFair
- + GamblingFair
- + Auto BattlerFair
- + Combat RacingFair
- + Trading Card GameFair
- + IdlerFair
Comparable games
鬼谷八荒 Tale of Immortal 2023 · $114M 
Mount & Blade: Warband 2010 · $81M 
Middle-earth™: Shadow of Mordor™ 2014 · $38M 
Half Sword 2026 · EA · $21M 
The Riftbreaker 2021 · $20M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | 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 |
| | Mount & Blade: Warband | older | $19.99 | 135,425 97% | 4.1M | $81M (exactly $81,214,372) | TaleWorlds Entertainment |
| | Middle-earth™: Shadow of Mordor™ | older | $19.99 | 63,815 92% | 1.9M | $38M (exactly $38,269,856) | Monolith Productions |
| | Half Sword | · EA | $24.99 | 28,656 71% | 860k | $21M (exactly $21,483,403) | Half Sword Games |
| | The Riftbreaker | older | $29.99 | 22,127 90% | 664k | $20M (exactly $19,907,662) | EXOR Studios |
 | Myth of Empires | older | $29.99 | 15,520 68% | 466k | $14M (exactly $13,963,344) | Angela Game |
 | Craftopia | · EA older | $24.99 | 17,705 76% | 531k | $13M (exactly $13,273,438) | Pocketpair |
 | Prototype 2 | older | $39.99 | 10,389 75% | 312k | $12M (exactly $12,463,683) | Radical Entertainment |
 | Sands of Salzaar | older | $14.99 | 21,428 81% | 643k | $9.6M (exactly $9,636,172) | 汉家松鼠Han-Squirrel Studio |
 | Prototype™ | older | $19.99 | 12,518 80% | 376k | $7.5M (exactly $7,507,045) | Radical Entertainment |
 | Alaloth: Champions of The Four Kingdoms | $34.99 | 1,559 72% | 47k | $1.6M (exactly $1,636,482) | Gamera Interactive | |
 | Renown | · EA | $24.99 | 1,128 53% | 34k | $846k (exactly $845,662) | RDBK Studios |
 | Gladio Mori | $15.99 | 1,147 82% | 34k | $550k (exactly $550,216) | Plebeian Studio | |
 | Beyond the Map | · EA | $19.99 | 764 77% | 23k | $458k (exactly $458,171) | Glitch Goblins |
 | Human Host | · EA | $16.88 | 866 83% | 26k | $439k (exactly $438,542) | Virtual Matrix Studio |
 | Fell & Sell | $9.99 | 1,428 84% | 43k | $428k (exactly $427,972) | Art Games Studio S.A. | |
 | Huaxia: Warring States | · EA | $19.99 | 701 61% | 21k | $420k (exactly $420,390) | 秦川汉渚 |
 | Castle Craft | $19.99 | 480 82% | 14k | $288k (exactly $287,856) | Twin Earth | |
 | Stickman Strikes: Conquer Fantasy World | $11.99 | 642 78% | 19k | $231k (exactly $230,927) | LGaoGame |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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