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Should I ship a Time Manipulation Hack and Slash game?
Hack and Slash + Time Manipulation
Only 10 developers shipped a Time Manipulation 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, Ascend to ZERO, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 27 more are announced, ×4.5 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $4.7k, ×7.4 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $2.0k; 1 in 20 cleared $310k, ×497 the market median. Revenue is up 5965% on the market; 27 games are announced against 6 developers who shipped in the last year.
not enough cohorts to draw
| Bottom 30% | $1.9k (exactly $1,948) |
|---|---|
| Median | $4.7k (exactly $4,676) |
| Top 25% | $81k (exactly $80,968) |
| Top 5% | $312k (exactly $311,860) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 10 |
| Released games | 26 |
| Announced | 27 |
| Effort | 5 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $11.99 |
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 5965% on the market, supply 50% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 4%, 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
- Time Manipulation
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Hack and Slash, Time Manipulation
- Price point
- $11.99 typical
Why players buy here
The top 10 games average 83% positive over 1,218 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $2.0k. 27 games are announced against 6 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.5 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Hack and Slash with a different second tag, 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
Katana ZERO 2019 · $30M 
Prince of Persia®: The Sands of Time 2008 · $1.5M 
Prince of Persia: Warrior Within™ 2008 · $1.2M 
Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands™ 2010 · $864k 
Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones™ 2008 · $804k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Katana ZERO | older | $14.99 | 66,341 97% | 2.0M | $30M (exactly $29,833,548) | Askiisoft |
| | Prince of Persia®: The Sands of Time | older | $9.99 | 5,045 85% | 151k | $1.5M (exactly $1,511,986) | Kudosoft |
| | Prince of Persia: Warrior Within™ | older | $9.99 | 3,933 82% | 118k | $1.2M (exactly $1,178,720) | Ubisoft |
| | Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands™ | older | $9.99 | 2,882 70% | 86k | $864k (exactly $863,735) | Ubisoft Montreal |
| | Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones™ | older | $9.99 | 2,683 80% | 80k | $804k (exactly $804,095) | Ubisoft Montreal |
 | Ascend to ZERO | $11.99 | 867 82% | 26k | $312k (exactly $311,860) | Flyway Games, Inc. | |
 | Blades of Time | older | $9.99 | 1,039 80% | 31k | $311k (exactly $311,388) | Gaijin Entertainment Corporation |
 | Lysfanga: The Time Shift Warrior | older | $19.99 | 155 73% | 4.7k | $93k (exactly $92,954) | Sand Door Studio |
 | Retrace the Light | $17.99 | 170 85% | 5.1k | $92k (exactly $91,749) | Xiaming Game | |
 | Titans of the Past | $24.99 | 108 83% | 3.2k | $81k (exactly $80,968) | Devil's Dozen Games | |
 | Mai: Child of Ages | $14.99 | 34 88% | 1.0k | $15k (exactly $15,290) | Chubby Pixel | |
 | HexWind | $11.99 | 13 100% | 390 | $4.7k (exactly $4,676) | Charm Games | |
 | NUSNUR | $4.99 | 16 100% | 480 | $2.4k (exactly $2,395) | Team PARAFOX | |
 | Law of Demons | $12.99 | 5 60% | 150 | $1.9k (exactly $1,948) | Sierra Nevada Tunis | |
 | TIME SOUL | $9.99 | 2 50% | 60 | $599 (exactly $599) | Kubrick | |
 | Times Dungeon | $1.99 | 2 50% | 60 | $119 (exactly $119) | Mad Quark | |
 | Protocol:Chrono | $1.99 | 1 100% | 30 | $60 (exactly $60) | SilverMoon Labs |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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