Games › Hack and Slash › Hack and Slash + Top-Down Shooter
Should I ship a Top-Down Shooter Hack and Slash game?
Hack and Slash + Top-Down Shooter
Of 114 developers who shipped a Top-Down Shooter Hack and Slash 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.. 164 more are announced, ×2.5 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $810, ×1.3 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $230; 1 in 20 cleared $230k, ×378 the market median. Revenue is up 10% on the market; 164 games are announced against 65 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $225 (exactly $225) |
|---|---|
| Median | $807 (exactly $807) |
| Top 25% | $6.5k (exactly $6,473) |
| Top 5% | $237k (exactly $237,125) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 114 |
| Released games | 283 |
| Announced | 164 |
| Effort | 5 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $4.99 |
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 10% on the market, supply 30% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 13%, 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
- Top-Down Shooter
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Hack and Slash, Top-Down Shooter; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Bullet Hell, Roguelite
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $12.99 or above
- Art
- 3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Top-Down, Pixel Graphics
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $12.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 76% positive over 14,551 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $230. 8 in 10 of the 56 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 164 games are announced against 65 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.5 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
Brotato 2023 · $17M 
HELLDIVERS™ Dive Harder Edition 2015 · $15M 
Darksiders Genesis 2019 · $9.3M 
RUINER 2017 · $6.2M 
Killsquad 2021 · $2.6M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Brotato | older | $4.99 | 111,407 95% | 3.3M | $17M (exactly $16,677,628) | Blobfish |
| | HELLDIVERS™ Dive Harder Edition | older | $19.99 | 25,663 90% | 770k | $15M (exactly $15,390,101) | Arrowhead Game Studios |
| | Darksiders Genesis | older | $29.99 | 10,379 82% | 311k | $9.3M (exactly $9,337,986) | Airship Syndicate |
| | RUINER | older | $19.99 | 10,338 89% | 310k | $6.2M (exactly $6,199,699) | Reikon Games |
| | Killsquad | older | $29.99 | 2,839 71% | 85k | $2.6M (exactly $2,554,248) | Novarama |
 | Tower of Babel: Survivors of Chaos | $12.99 | 6,281 68% | 188k | $2.4M (exactly $2,447,706) | NANOO | |
 | Wizard with a Gun | older | $24.99 | 2,932 80% | 88k | $2.2M (exactly $2,198,120) | Galvanic Games |
 | ANVIL | older | $24.99 | 1,900 61% | 57k | $1.4M (exactly $1,424,430) | ACTION SQUARE |
 | 永远消失的幻想乡 ～ The Disappearing of Gensokyo | older | $10.99 | 3,023 83% | 91k | $997k (exactly $996,683) | MyACG Studio |
 | Soundfall | older | $29.99 | 996 73% | 30k | $896k (exactly $896,101) | Drastic Games |
 | KILL KNIGHT | $14.99 | 1,804 93% | 54k | $811k (exactly $811,259) | PlaySide | |
 | Asgard's Fall — Viking Survivors | $9.99 | 1,301 79% | 39k | $390k (exactly $389,910) | Soulpotion | |
 | Noobs Are Coming | $7.99 | 1,580 82% | 47k | $379k (exactly $378,726) | Overboy | |
 | [REDACTED] | $24.99 | 328 81% | 9.8k | $246k (exactly $245,902) | Striking Distance Studios | |
 | Slime 3K: Rise Against Despot | $4.99 | 1,584 79% | 48k | $237k (exactly $237,125) | Konfa Games | |
 | Dark Light: Survivor | · EA | $16.99 | 346 75% | 10k | $176k (exactly $176,356) | Mirari&Co. |
 | Bioweaver | $6.99 | 668 77% | 20k | $140k (exactly $140,080) | Emprom Game, Wild Kid Games | |
 | PengPong | $12.99 | 260 84% | 7.8k | $101k (exactly $101,322) | SANDY FLOOR | |
 | Time Treker | $6.99 | 399 65% | 12k | $84k (exactly $83,670) | Fuse Game |
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.