Games › Hack and Slash › Hack and Slash + Sci-fi
Should I ship a Sci-fi Hack and Slash game?
Hack and Slash + Sci-fi
Of 139 developers who shipped a Sci-fi 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.. 330 more are announced, ×4.8 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $2.7k, ×4.3 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $300; 1 in 20 cleared $2.3M, ×3746 the market median. Revenue is down 45% on the market; 330 games are announced against 69 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $299 (exactly $299) |
|---|---|
| Median | $2.7k (exactly $2,697) |
| Top 25% | $49k (exactly $49,017) |
| Top 5% | $2.4M (exactly $2,352,208) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 139 |
| Released games | 470 |
| Announced | 330 |
| Effort | 5 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $9.99 |
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 45% on the market, supply as many developers as the period before.
Free games: 16%, 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
- Sci-fi
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Hack and Slash; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Action Roguelike, Action RPG
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $29.99 or above
- Art
- 3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Third Person, 3D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $29.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 79% positive over 31,537 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $300. 7 in 10 of the 86 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 330 games are announced against 69 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.8 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
- + RomancePoor odds
- + Visual NovelPoor odds
- + Character Action GamePoor odds
- + DestructionPoor odds
- + LGBTQ+Poor odds
- + AutomationPoor odds
Comparable games
STAR WARS Jedi: Fallen Order™ 2019 · $184M 
NieR:Automata™ 2017 · $138M 
METAL GEAR RISING: REVENGEANCE 2014 · $62M 
Ghostrunner 2020 · $42M 
Katana ZERO 2019 · $30M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | STAR WARS Jedi: Fallen Order™ | older | $39.99 | 153,782 88% | 4.6M | $184M (exactly $184,492,265) | Respawn Entertainment |
| | NieR:Automata™ | older | $39.99 | 115,103 88% | 3.5M | $138M (exactly $138,089,069) | Square Enix, PlatinumGames Inc. |
| | METAL GEAR RISING: REVENGEANCE | older | $29.99 | 69,104 96% | 2.1M | $62M (exactly $62,172,869) | PlatinumGames |
| | Ghostrunner | older | $29.99 | 46,818 91% | 1.4M | $42M (exactly $42,122,155) | One More Level, 3D Realms, Slipgate Iro… (One More Level, 3D Realms, Slipgate Ironworks™, All in! Games) |
| | Katana ZERO | older | $14.99 | 66,341 97% | 2.0M | $30M (exactly $29,833,548) | Askiisoft |
 | Warhammer 40,000: Inquisitor - Martyr | older | $49.99 | 19,552 75% | 587k | $29M (exactly $29,322,134) | NeocoreGames |
 | SCARLET NEXUS | older | $59.99 | 13,749 81% | 412k | $25M (exactly $24,744,075) | BANDAI NAMCO Studios Inc. |
 | Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine - Anniversary Edition | older | $39.99 | 18,455 92% | 554k | $22M (exactly $22,140,464) | Relic Entertainment |
 | Bright Memory: Infinite | older | $19.99 | 36,229 91% | 1.1M | $22M (exactly $21,726,531) | FYQD-Studio |
 | NINJA GAIDEN 4 | $69.99 | 8,459 88% | 254k | $18M (exactly $17,761,362) | PlatinumGames Inc. / Team NINJA / KOEI… (PlatinumGames Inc. / Team NINJA / KOEI TECMO GAMES CO., LTD.) | |
 | Daemon X Machina: Titanic Scion | $69.99 | 1,838 63% | 55k | $3.9M (exactly $3,859,249) | Marvelous Inc. | |
 | MOTORSLICE | $19.99 | 5,467 85% | 164k | $3.3M (exactly $3,278,560) | Regular Studio | |
 | ROMEO IS A DEAD MAN | $49.99 | 2,059 87% | 62k | $3.1M (exactly $3,087,882) | GRASSHOPPER MANUFACTURE INC. | |
 | Hyper Light Breaker | · EA | $29.99 | 3,424 52% | 103k | $3.1M (exactly $3,080,573) | Heart Machine |
 | M.A.S.S. Builder | $24.99 | 3,729 85% | 112k | $2.8M (exactly $2,795,631) | Vermillion Digital | |
 | Lost Soul Aside™ | $59.99 | 1,307 59% | 39k | $2.4M (exactly $2,352,208) | Ultizero Games | |
 | Crashlands 2 | $24.99 | 2,202 88% | 66k | $1.7M (exactly $1,650,839) | Butterscotch Shenanigans | |
 | Morbid Metal | · EA | $17.99 | 1,555 81% | 47k | $839k (exactly $839,233) | SCREEN JUICE |
 | Meta Ghost: Breaking Show | $17.99 | 1,497 72% | 45k | $808k (exactly $807,931) | Scarecrow Studio |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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