Games › Hack and Slash › Hack and Slash + Steampunk
Should I ship a Steampunk Hack and Slash game?
Hack and Slash + Steampunk
Only 9 developers shipped a Steampunk Hack and Slash 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, Airships: Lost Flotilla, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 44 more are announced, ×8.8 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $8.3k, ×13 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $450; 1 in 20 cleared $78k, ×125 the market median. Revenue is down 95% on the market; 44 games are announced against 5 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $450 (exactly $450) |
|---|---|
| Median | $8.3k (exactly $8,284) |
| Top 25% | $9.0k (exactly $8,991) |
| Top 5% | $78k (exactly $78,213) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 9 |
| Released games | 42 |
| Announced | 44 |
| 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 95% on the market, supply 25% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 21%, 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
- Steampunk
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Hack and Slash
- Price point
- $9.99 typical
Why players buy here
Fewer than 10 games in the last 2 years; sentiment and price figures use the all window.
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $14.99.
The top 10 games average 81% positive over 68,043 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $450. 8 in 10 of the 5 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 44 games are announced against 5 developers who shipped in the last year, ×8.8 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
Torchlight II 2012 · $20M 
Torchlight III 2020 · $12M 
The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing 2013 · $3.5M 
The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing: Final Cut 2015 · $2.6M 
Torchlight 2009 · $2.5M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Torchlight II | older | $19.99 | 33,094 92% | 993k | $20M (exactly $19,846,472) | Runic Games |
| | Torchlight III | older | $39.99 | 10,401 47% | 312k | $12M (exactly $12,478,080) | Echtra Inc. |
| | The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing | older | $14.99 | 7,720 83% | 232k | $3.5M (exactly $3,471,684) | NeocoreGames |
| | The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing: Final Cut | older | $44.99 | 1,959 76% | 59k | $2.6M (exactly $2,644,062) | NeocoreGames |
| | Torchlight | older | $14.99 | 5,462 90% | 164k | $2.5M (exactly $2,456,261) | Runic Games |
 | Victor Vran ARPG | older | $19.99 | 3,708 84% | 111k | $2.2M (exactly $2,223,688) | Haemimont Games |
 | Deathtrap | older | $19.99 | 1,858 84% | 56k | $1.1M (exactly $1,114,243) | NeocoreGames |
 | The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing II | older | $14.99 | 1,954 70% | 59k | $879k (exactly $878,714) | NeocoreGames |
 | The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing III | older | $14.99 | 1,211 64% | 36k | $545k (exactly $544,587) | NeocoreGames |
 | Krater | older | $14.99 | 676 56% | 20k | $304k (exactly $303,997) | Fatshark |
 | Airships: Lost Flotilla | $8.99 | 290 92% | 8.7k | $78k (exactly $78,213) | David Stark | |
 | Sacre Bleu | $14.99 | 46 82% | 1.4k | $21k (exactly $20,686) | Hildring Studio Inc | |
 | Luminaria: Dark Echoes | $9.99 | 30 86% | 900 | $9.0k (exactly $8,991) | Enthariel Games | |
 | StellaGale: The Trials Of Faith | · EA | $9.99 | 29 96% | 870 | $8.7k (exactly $8,691) | Extra Life Entertainment, Vifth Floor |
 | Dark Reaper Shoots! 2 | $5.31 | 52 69% | 1.6k | $8.3k (exactly $8,284) | SummerTimeStudio | |
 | Heart of Gaia | $13.99 | 7 57% | 210 | $2.9k (exactly $2,938) | Brokentail Games | |
 | STEAM TRIGGER | $14.99 | 1 0% | 30 | $450 (exactly $450) | x-climb Inc. | |
 | ESPCOACOD | · EA | $0.99 | 0 0% | 0 | $0 (exactly $0) | Zander Ragsdale, Brady Lang, LunarWinds… (Zander Ragsdale, Brady Lang, LunarWinds Studios) |
 | Monster Mavericks | $6.99 | 0 0% | 0 | $0 (exactly $0) | Trevor Allen |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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