Games › Shooter › Shooter + Hack and Slash
Should I ship a Hack and Slash Shooter?
Shooter + Hack and Slash
Of 176 developers who shipped a Hack and Slash Shooter 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.. 254 more are announced, ×2.7 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.0k, ×1.7 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $240; 1 in 20 cleared $430k, ×698 the market median. Revenue is down 45% on the market; 254 games are announced against 93 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $239 (exactly $239) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.0k (exactly $1,048) |
| Top 25% | $8.3k (exactly $8,284) |
| Top 5% | $439k (exactly $438,542) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 176 |
| Released games | 497 |
| Announced | 254 |
| Effort | 6 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $6.99 |
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 10% 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.
- Shooter
- 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
- Shooter, Hack and Slash; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Adventure, Roguelite
- Price point
- $6.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Third Person, 2D, 3D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.
The top 10 games average 88% positive over 21,823 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $240. 8 in 10 of the 95 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 254 games are announced against 93 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.7 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Shooter with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Dating SimFair
- + CollectathonFair
- + VampiresFair
- + Walking SimulatorFair
- + IdlerFair
- + Match 3Fair
- + SnowFair
- + Boss RushFair
- + IncrementalFair
- + ArcadeLong shot
- + Score AttackLong shot
- + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds
Comparable games
Killing Floor 2 2016 · $78M 
Ghostrunner 2020 · $42M 
Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine - Anniversary Edition 2011 · $22M 
Bright Memory: Infinite 2021 · $22M 
Shadow Warrior 2 2016 · $22M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Killing Floor 2 | older | $29.99 | 87,158 88% | 2.6M | $78M (exactly $78,416,053) | Tripwire Interactive |
| | 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) |
| | 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 |
| | Shadow Warrior 2 | older | $29.99 | 24,120 87% | 724k | $22M (exactly $21,700,764) | Flying Wild Hog |
 | EARTH DEFENSE FORCE 5 | older | $59.99 | 9,375 93% | 281k | $17M (exactly $16,872,188) | SANDLOT |
 | HELLDIVERS™ Dive Harder Edition | older | $19.99 | 25,663 90% | 770k | $15M (exactly $15,390,101) | Arrowhead Game Studios |
 | Evil West | older | $49.99 | 10,215 74% | 306k | $15M (exactly $15,319,436) | Flying Wild Hog |
 | Shadow Warrior | older | $29.99 | 15,960 92% | 479k | $14M (exactly $14,359,212) | Flying Wild Hog |
 | Myth of Empires | older | $29.99 | 15,520 68% | 466k | $14M (exactly $13,963,344) | Angela Game |
 | The Killing Antidote | · EA | $29.99 | 7,512 88% | 225k | $6.8M (exactly $6,758,546) | MetalStar Studio |
 | ROMEO IS A DEAD MAN | $49.99 | 2,059 87% | 62k | $3.1M (exactly $3,087,882) | GRASSHOPPER MANUFACTURE INC. | |
 | M.A.S.S. Builder | $24.99 | 3,729 85% | 112k | $2.8M (exactly $2,795,631) | Vermillion Digital | |
 | KIBORG | $24.99 | 1,221 84% | 37k | $915k (exactly $915,384) | Sobaka Studio | |
 | KILL KNIGHT | $14.99 | 1,804 93% | 54k | $811k (exactly $811,259) | PlaySide | |
 | Endless Alice | · EA | $8.99 | 2,307 91% | 69k | $622k (exactly $622,198) | HowlingRain, 台灣響雨互娛, 響雨@OSAKA |
 | Shady Knight | $19.99 | 898 93% | 27k | $539k (exactly $538,531) | Alexey 'cptnsigh' | |
 | Priest Simulator: Vampire Show | $19.99 | 735 94% | 22k | $441k (exactly $440,779) | Asmodev | |
 | Human Host | · EA | $16.88 | 866 83% | 26k | $439k (exactly $438,542) | Virtual Matrix Studio |
 | Survival Machine | $19.99 | 692 69% | 21k | $415k (exactly $414,992) | Grape Pickers |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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