Games › Hack and Slash › Hack and Slash + Shoot 'Em Up
Should I ship a Shoot 'Em Up Hack and Slash game?
Hack and Slash + Shoot 'Em Up
Of 81 developers who shipped a Shoot 'Em Up 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.. 98 more are announced, ×2.2 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $450, ×0.7 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $180; 1 in 20 cleared $63k, ×101 the market median. Revenue is up 60% on the market; 98 games are announced against 44 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $180 (exactly $180) |
|---|---|
| Median | $449 (exactly $449) |
| Top 25% | $4.5k (exactly $4,497) |
| Top 5% | $63k (exactly $63,145) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 81 |
| Released games | 247 |
| Announced | 98 |
| 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 up 60% on the market, supply 20% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 12%, 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
- Shoot 'Em Up
- 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, Shoot 'Em Up; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Bullet Hell, Roguelite
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Top-Down, Pixel Graphics
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 81% positive over 3,590 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $180. 9 in 10 of the 41 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 98 games are announced against 44 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.2 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
Furi 2016 · $6.7M 
POSTAL 4: No Regerts 2022 · $6.5M 
Turnip Boy Robs a Bank 2024 · $850k 
UFO ROBOT GRENDIZER – The Feast of the Wolves 2023 · $671k 
Gungrave G.O.R.E 2022 · $669k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Furi | older | $19.99 | 11,246 90% | 337k | $6.7M (exactly $6,744,226) | The Game Bakers |
| | POSTAL 4: No Regerts | older | $19.99 | 10,855 67% | 326k | $6.5M (exactly $6,509,743) | Running With Scissors |
| | Turnip Boy Robs a Bank | older | $14.99 | 1,890 95% | 57k | $850k (exactly $849,933) | Snoozy Kazoo |
| | UFO ROBOT GRENDIZER – The Feast of the Wolves | older | $39.99 | 559 84% | 17k | $671k (exactly $670,632) | Endroad |
| | Gungrave G.O.R.E | older | $29.99 | 744 71% | 22k | $669k (exactly $669,377) | Iggymob Co.,Ltd |
 | Insect Swarm | older | $6.99 | 2,491 84% | 75k | $522k (exactly $522,363) | Parallel Portal |
 | XENOTILT: HOSTILE PINBALL ACTION | $19.99 | 770 96% | 23k | $462k (exactly $461,769) | WIZNWAR, FLARB LLC | |
 | Spell Disk | older | $14.99 | 965 89% | 29k | $434k (exactly $433,960) | Sunpeak Games |
 | Slime 3K: Rise Against Despot | $4.99 | 1,584 79% | 48k | $237k (exactly $237,125) | Konfa Games | |
 | God's Trigger | older | $14.99 | 441 72% | 13k | $198k (exactly $198,318) | One More Level |
 | Time Treker | $6.99 | 399 65% | 12k | $84k (exactly $83,670) | Fuse Game | |
 | Soulforge Lost Path | $8.99 | 302 69% | 9.1k | $81k (exactly $81,449) | Ziyue | |
 | PROJECT TACHYON | $17.99 | 117 83% | 3.5k | $63k (exactly $63,145) | STUDIO N9 | |
 | Don't Die, Collect Loot | · EA | $9.99 | 161 91% | 4.8k | $48k (exactly $48,252) | Dan Marchand |
 | Kritter: Defend Together | $9.99 | 109 86% | 3.3k | $33k (exactly $32,667) | LJF Games | |
 | Memory Lost | $19.99 | 53 92% | 1.6k | $32k (exactly $31,784) | Magic Hazard | |
 | METAL SUITS: Counter-attack | $9.99 | 71 77% | 2.1k | $21k (exactly $21,279) | Gonggamore Contents | |
 | HoverGrease 2 | $19.99 | 24 83% | 720 | $14k (exactly $14,393) | Altergaze |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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