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Should I ship a Hack and Slash Sports game?
Sports + Hack and Slash
Only 13 developers shipped a Hack and Slash Sports game in the last 2 years, too few for firm odds: the middle one made est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.; the top game by est. revenue, Helskate, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 16 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 $960, ×1.5 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $59; 1 in 20 cleared $220k, ×359 the market median. Revenue is up 350% on the market; 16 games are announced against 6 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $59 (exactly $59) |
|---|---|
| Median | $959 (exactly $959) |
| Top 25% | $3.8k (exactly $3,838) |
| Top 5% | $226k (exactly $225,660) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 13 |
| Released games | 66 |
| Announced | 16 |
| Effort | 6 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $14.99 |
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 350% on the market, supply 15% fewer developers than the period before.
Free games: 14%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Sports
- 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
- Sports, Hack and Slash
- Price point
- $14.99 typical
Why players buy here
The top 10 games average 68% positive over 563 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $59. 7 in 10 of the 7 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 16 games are announced against 6 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.7 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Sports with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Dynamic NarrationStrong odds
- + CraftingFair
- + Strategy RPGFair
- + SandboxFair
- + Split ScreenFair
- + Dating SimFair
- + Visual NovelFair
- + LGBTQ+Fair
- + FMVFair
- + BikesFair
- + Immersive SimFair
- + Choices MatterFair
Comparable games
Fruit Ninja VR 2016 · $360k 
Helskate 2025 · $226k 
BEYBLADE X EVOBATTLE 2025 · $168k 
My Riding Stables: Life with Horses 2014 · $110k 
Bloodsports.TV 2015 · $76k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Fruit Ninja VR | older | $14.99 | 801 80% | 24k | $360k (exactly $360,210) | Halfbrick Studios Pty Ltd |
| | Helskate | $24.99 | 301 65% | 9.0k | $226k (exactly $225,660) | Phantom Coast | |
| | BEYBLADE X EVOBATTLE | $49.99 | 112 81% | 3.4k | $168k (exactly $167,966) | 株式会社グルーブボックスジャパン | |
| | My Riding Stables: Life with Horses | older | $14.99 | 244 88% | 7.3k | $110k (exactly $109,727) | Sproing |
| | Bloodsports.TV | older | $9.99 | 255 83% | 7.7k | $76k (exactly $76,424) | Toadman Interactive, Fatshark |
 | DrumBeats VR | $14.99 | 128 65% | 3.8k | $58k (exactly $57,562) | Marcel Eissens, VRROOM Ultimate VR Expe… (Marcel Eissens, VRROOM Ultimate VR Experiences BV) | |
 | RPGolf Legends | older | $29.99 | 25 76% | 750 | $22k (exactly $22,492) | ArticNet |
 | Presentiment of Death | older | $14.99 | 45 71% | 1.4k | $20k (exactly $20,236) | XOCUS |
 | DOLPHIN HUSTLE | older | $24.99 | 16 75% | 480 | $12k (exactly $11,995) | Gamesforgames |
 | Stop Sign VR Tools | · EA older | $5.99 | 59 84% | 1.8k | $11k (exactly $10,602) | Reality Inside Ltd. |
 | Just Move Fall Dungeon Endless Abyss | $15.99 | 8 50% | 240 | $3.8k (exactly $3,838) | daminggede | |
 | Fresh Tracks VR | $19.99 | 2 100% | 60 | $1.2k (exactly $1,199) | Buffalo Buffalo | |
 | Bashing Brutal | $7.99 | 5 60% | 150 | $1.2k (exactly $1,198) | Lema Games | |
 | The Long Drive Badland | $15.99 | 2 100% | 60 | $959 (exactly $959) | TinyBig | |
 | Project: KNOSSOS | $7.99 | 2 100% | 60 | $479 (exactly $479) | Ancient Pixel | |
 | BleepWare Incrementals | $4.99 | 1 0% | 30 | $150 (exactly $150) | Beep2Bleep | |
 | DudeGo | $0.99 | 2 50% | 60 | $59 (exactly $59) | FussyCraft |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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