Do I ship it?

Games › Hack and Slash › Hack and Slash + Underground

Specimen · observed

Should I ship an Underground Hack and Slash game?

Hack and Slash + Underground

Of 23 developers who shipped an Underground 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.. 41 more are announced, ×2.7 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $1.5k, ×2.4 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $720; 1 in 20 cleared $130k, ×222 the market median. Revenue is down 85% on the market; 41 games are announced against 15 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 2.4 times the market baseline, revenue down 85% on the market, 41 announced, ×2.7 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Hack and Slash + Underground
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 23
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $60 → $1.1k → $3.0k → $2.1k (still earning) → $899 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Hack and Slash + Underground: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 23
Bottom 30% $719 (exactly $719)
Median $1.5k (exactly $1,498)
Top 25% $4.8k (exactly $4,794)
Top 5% $139k (exactly $139,241)
Developers, 2 yr 23
Released games 55
Announced 41
Effort 5 / 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 down 85% on the market, supply 90% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 9%, 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.

Hack and Slash
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
Underground
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
Systems
Hack and Slash; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Dungeon Crawler, RPG, Character Customization
Price point
$7.99 typical · top 25% priced $11.99 or above
Art
5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Retro, 2D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $11.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.

The top 10 games average 86% positive over 1,888 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $720, median $1.5k, 1 in 4 over $4.7k, 1 in 20 over $130k.

3 in 10 developers made under $720. 6 in 10 of the 10 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 41 games are announced against 15 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.7 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Hack and Slash with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + Turn-BasedStrong odds8 devs · median $14k · 1 announced
  2. + Turn-Based CombatStrong odds28 devs · median $3.7k · 27 announced
  3. + VampiresFair32 devs · median $7.2k · 37 announced
  4. + ModernFair13 devs · median $7.2k · 20 announced
  5. + IdlerFair32 devs · median $6.4k · 50 announced
  6. + IncrementalFair40 devs · median $1.7k · 57 announced
  7. + RomancePoor odds11 devs · median $119k · 25 announced
  8. + Visual NovelPoor odds11 devs · median $85k · 22 announced
  9. + Character Action GamePoor odds27 devs · median $58k · 80 announced
  10. + DestructionPoor odds19 devs · median $43k · 57 announced
  11. + LGBTQ+Poor odds17 devs · median $33k · 20 announced
  12. + AutomationPoor odds12 devs · median $21k · 26 announced

All 175 pairs on the Hack and Slash page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Never Return 2021 · EA · $610k The Knight Girl And Dungeons 2024 · $143k Path of the Abyss 2025 · $139k Skeletal Avenger 2021 · $81k DigDigDrill 2024 · $73k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Never Return · EA older $13.99 1,453 73% 44k $610k (exactly $609,824) YeMuNetWork
The Knight Girl And Dungeons $11.99 397 67% 12k $143k (exactly $142,801) こねこぼくし
Path of the Abyss $6.99 664 92% 20k $139k (exactly $139,241) Suzuki Suzuzou
Skeletal Avenger older $16.99 158 82% 4.7k $81k (exactly $80,533) 10tons Ltd
DigDigDrill $3.99 607 95% 18k $73k (exactly $72,658) Toorai
Dragonpath older $7.99 91 78% 2.7k $22k (exactly $21,813) Ebonscale Games
Soulbind: Tales Of The Underworld $7.99 88 73% 2.6k $21k (exactly $21,094) Rubedo Games
Labyrinth of Aetheria · EA $14.00 44 90% 1.3k $18k (exactly $18,480) Jimineko Games
Verlet Ascend older $6.99 75 88% 2.3k $16k (exactly $15,728) Sagewind Studio
MetaMorph: Dungeon Creatures · EA older $9.99 33 81% 990 $9.9k (exactly $9,890) FireFly Studios
Tome of the Damned $7.99 20 60% 600 $4.8k (exactly $4,794) Redtower Games
Spirited Line $4.99 26 92% 780 $3.9k (exactly $3,892) Eazy Wizard
Brews & Bastards $14.99 8 87% 240 $3.6k (exactly $3,598) Mune Studio
DOWNMOUSE $3.99 25 92% 750 $3.0k (exactly $2,992) WobblyHandStudio
Once upon a Dungeon - Infinity $7.99 9 88% 270 $2.2k (exactly $2,157) Koto Games

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