Do I ship it?

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Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Hack and Slash Tactical game?

Tactical + Hack and Slash

Of 51 developers who shipped a Hack and Slash Tactical 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.. 84 more are announced, ×3.0 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $2.3k, ×3.7 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $600; 1 in 20 cleared $620k, ×999 the market median. Revenue is up 20% on the market; 84 games are announced against 28 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 3.7 times the market baseline, revenue up 20% on the market, 84 announced, ×3.0 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Tactical + Hack and Slash
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 51
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $150 → $1.2k → $93k → $2.6k → $2.9k → $3.6k → $1.9k (still earning) → $779 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Tactical + Hack and Slash: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 51
Bottom 30% $597 (exactly $597)
Median $2.3k (exactly $2,317)
Top 25% $13k (exactly $12,587)
Top 5% $627k (exactly $627,443)
Developers, 2 yr 51
Released games 149
Announced 84
Effort 6 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $7.99

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 20% on the market, supply 20% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 17%, excluded from money figures.

See every window in the explorer →

Plate 2 · systems and tooling

Can AI deliver it?

AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.

Tactical
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

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
Systems
Tactical, Hack and Slash; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Combat, RPG
Price point
$7.99 typical · top 25% priced $29.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Pixel Graphics, 2D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $29.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.

The top 10 games average 90% positive over 24,340 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $600, median $2.3k, 1 in 4 over $12k, 1 in 20 over $620k.

3 in 10 developers made under $600. 8 in 10 of the 27 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 84 games are announced against 28 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.0 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Tactical with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + Football (American)Strong odds12 devs · median $5.8k · 8 announced
  2. + Mystery DungeonStrong odds20 devs · median $2.5k · 15 announced
  3. + Dating SimFair13 devs · median $11k · 9 announced
  4. + 6DOFFair14 devs · median $2.4k · 19 announced
  5. + Word GameFair23 devs · median $1.8k · 12 announced
  6. + TypingFair16 devs · median $1.2k · 9 announced
  7. + DwarvesFair7 devs · median $1.0k · 10 announced
  8. + Traditional RoguelikeFair38 devs · median $987 · 57 announced
  9. + Dynamic NarrationFair13 devs · median $899 · 16 announced
  10. + Farming SimFair12 devs · median $897 · 10 announced
  11. + SolitaireFair25 devs · median $479 · 22 announced
  12. + LGBTQ+Fair20 devs · median $479 · 21 announced

All 226 pairs on the Tactical page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

DYNASTY WARRIORS: ORIGINS 2025 · $41M Transistor 2014 · $17M Kingdom Heroes 8 2021 · $12M PATAPON 1+2 REPLAY 2025 · $1.9M Blades of Fire 2026 · $627k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
DYNASTY WARRIORS: ORIGINS $69.99 19,578 92% 587k $41M (exactly $41,107,927) KOEI TECMO GAMES CO., LTD.
Transistor older $19.99 27,993 93% 840k $17M (exactly $16,787,402) Supergiant Games
Kingdom Heroes 8 older $29.99 12,793 55% 384k $12M (exactly $11,509,862) USERJOY Technology Co.,Ltd.
PATAPON 1+2 REPLAY $29.99 2,091 83% 63k $1.9M (exactly $1,881,273) SAS CO.,LTD.
Blades of Fire $39.99 523 74% 16k $627k (exactly $627,443) MercurySteam
Anomaly President · EA $14.99 1,376 91% 41k $619k (exactly $618,787) Phew Phew Games
Project MIKHAIL: A Muv-Luv War Story older $19.99 706 54% 21k $423k (exactly $423,388) aNCHOR Inc., fuzz, Inc.
FAIRY TAIL 2 $59.99 162 61% 4.9k $292k (exactly $291,551) KOEI TECMO GAMES CO., LTD.
Dwerve older $19.99 426 70% 13k $255k (exactly $255,472) Half Human Games
Bendy: Lone Wolf $19.99 259 77% 7.8k $155k (exactly $155,322) Joey Drew Studios
SONOKUNI $14.99 109 98% 3.3k $49k (exactly $49,017) DON YASA CREW
Lords and Legions · EA $18.99 59 74% 1.8k $34k (exactly $33,612) Warborne Studios
ELbab · EA $6.99 134 81% 4.0k $28k (exactly $28,100) makz
Rise of a Legend · EA $17.99 49 77% 1.5k $26k (exactly $26,445) Masquarade, Nicholas St. Germain

Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.