Games › Spectacle fighter › Spectacle fighter + Hack and Slash
Should I ship a Hack and Slash Spectacle fighter?
Spectacle fighter + Hack and Slash
Of 77 developers who shipped a Hack and Slash Spectacle fighter 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.. 142 more are announced, ×3.2 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 7 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $6.7k, ×4.5 the market's $1.5k for a 7 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $2.0k; 1 in 20 cleared $9.2M, ×6183 the market median. Revenue is up 385% on the market; 142 games are announced against 44 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $1.9k (exactly $1,915) |
|---|---|
| Median | $6.7k (exactly $6,742) |
| Top 25% | $168k (exactly $167,966) |
| Top 5% | $9.3M (exactly $9,261,794) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 77 |
| Released games | 233 |
| Announced | 142 |
| Effort | 7 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Low |
| 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 up 385% on the market, supply 25% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 7%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is low: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Spectacle fighter
- effort 7 / 10 · low · effort 7 sits in the low band
- Hack and Slash
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 7 / 10 · big single-player or serious online
- Systems
- Spectacle fighter, Hack and Slash; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Action RPG, Action-Adventure
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $49.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Third Person, Story Rich
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $49.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 87% positive over 92,120 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $2.0k. 6 in 10 of the 43 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 142 games are announced against 44 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.2 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Spectacle fighter with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Score AttackFair
- + HorrorFair
- + LootPoor odds
- + Character Action GamePoor odds
- + Survival HorrorPoor odds
- + HistoricalPoor odds
- + Sci-fiPoor odds
- + RobotsPoor odds
- + MythologyPoor odds
- + Female ProtagonistPoor odds
- + FightingPoor odds
- + NinjaPoor odds
Comparable games
| Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | NieR:Automata™ | older | $39.99 | 115,103 88% | 3.5M | $138M (exactly $138,089,069) | Square Enix, PlatinumGames Inc. |
| | Devil May Cry 5 | older | $29.99 | 119,108 96% | 3.6M | $107M (exactly $107,161,468) | CAPCOM Co., Ltd. |
| | METAL GEAR RISING: REVENGEANCE | older | $29.99 | 69,104 96% | 2.1M | $62M (exactly $62,172,869) | PlatinumGames |
| | Granblue Fantasy: Relink | older | $39.99 | 41,227 89% | 1.2M | $49M (exactly $49,460,032) | Cygames, Inc. |
| | DYNASTY WARRIORS: ORIGINS | $69.99 | 19,578 92% | 587k | $41M (exactly $41,107,927) | KOEI TECMO GAMES CO., LTD. | |
| | FINAL FANTASY XVI | $49.99 | 24,065 78% | 722k | $36M (exactly $36,090,280) | Square Enix | |
| | Hi-Fi RUSH | older | $29.99 | 27,454 97% | 824k | $25M (exactly $24,700,364) | Tango Gameworks |
| | Onimusha: Way of the Sword | $69.99 | 11,279 89% | 338k | $24M (exactly $23,682,516) | CAPCOM Co., Ltd. | |
| | DmC: Devil May Cry | older | $29.99 | 20,938 93% | 628k | $19M (exactly $18,837,919) | Ninja Theory |
| | DYNASTY WARRIORS 8: Xtreme Legends Complete Edition | older | $49.99 | 11,886 83% | 357k | $18M (exactly $17,825,434) | KOEI TECMO GAMES CO., LTD. |
| | 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.) | |
| | Dead as Disco | · EA | $24.99 | 12,354 96% | 371k | $9.3M (exactly $9,261,794) | Brain Jar Games, Inc. |
| | NINJA GAIDEN 2 Black | $49.99 | 3,289 78% | 99k | $4.9M (exactly $4,932,513) | KOEI TECMO GAMES CO., LTD. | |
| | Stick It to the Stickman | · EA | $11.99 | 7,918 96% | 238k | $2.8M (exactly $2,848,105) | Free Lives |
| | Lost Soul Aside™ | $59.99 | 1,307 59% | 39k | $2.4M (exactly $2,352,208) | Ultizero Games | |
| | Homura Hime | $24.99 | 2,316 90% | 69k | $1.7M (exactly $1,736,305) | Crimson Dusk | |
| | Morbid Metal | · EA | $17.99 | 1,555 81% | 47k | $839k (exactly $839,233) | SCREEN JUICE |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
Your address goes to Buttondown, which sends the letter, and nowhere else. Every issue has an unsubscribe link. No tracking beyond the open count Buttondown keeps.