Games › Hack and Slash › Hack and Slash + War
Should I ship a War Hack and Slash game?
Hack and Slash + War
Of 30 developers who shipped a War 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.. 87 more are announced, ×4.8 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.2k, ×1.9 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $360; 1 in 20 cleared $2.1M, ×3428 the market median. Revenue is flat on the market; 87 games are announced against 18 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $359 (exactly $359) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.2k (exactly $1,198) |
| Top 25% | $16k (exactly $16,184) |
| Top 5% | $2.2M (exactly $2,152,982) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 30 |
| Released games | 126 |
| Announced | 87 |
| Effort | 6 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $6.99 |
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 flat on the market, supply 50% 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
- War
- effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- Hack and Slash; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, RPG, Action RPG
- Price point
- $6.99 typical · top 25% priced $59.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Third Person
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $59.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.
The top 10 games average 90% positive over 25,960 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $360. 8 in 10 of the 16 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 87 games are announced against 18 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.8 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
Middle-earth™: Shadow of War™ 2017 · $132M 
FOR HONOR™ 2017 · $98M 
Chivalry 2 2022 · $56M 
DYNASTY WARRIORS: ORIGINS 2025 · $41M 
Warhammer 40,000: Inquisitor - Martyr 2018 · $29M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Middle-earth™: Shadow of War™ | older | $49.99 | 87,777 88% | 2.6M | $132M (exactly $131,639,167) | Monolith Productions |
| | FOR HONOR™ | older | $29.99 | 108,492 69% | 3.3M | $98M (exactly $97,610,252) | Ubisoft Montreal, Ubisoft Quebec, Ubiso… (Ubisoft Montreal, Ubisoft Quebec, Ubisoft Toronto, Blue Byte) |
| | Chivalry 2 | older | $39.99 | 46,707 79% | 1.4M | $56M (exactly $56,034,388) | Torn Banner Studios |
| | DYNASTY WARRIORS: ORIGINS | $69.99 | 19,578 92% | 587k | $41M (exactly $41,107,927) | KOEI TECMO GAMES CO., LTD. | |
| | Warhammer 40,000: Inquisitor - Martyr | older | $49.99 | 19,552 75% | 587k | $29M (exactly $29,322,134) | NeocoreGames |
 | Sifu | older | $39.99 | 21,620 92% | 649k | $26M (exactly $25,937,514) | Sloclap |
 | Myth of Empires | older | $29.99 | 15,520 68% | 466k | $14M (exactly $13,963,344) | Angela Game |
 | Kingdom Heroes 8 | older | $29.99 | 12,793 55% | 384k | $12M (exactly $11,509,862) | USERJOY Technology Co.,Ltd. |
 | Ryse: Son of Rome | older | $9.99 | 38,308 87% | 1.1M | $11M (exactly $11,480,908) | Crytek |
 | Sands of Salzaar | older | $14.99 | 21,428 81% | 643k | $9.6M (exactly $9,636,172) | 汉家松鼠Han-Squirrel Studio |
 | The Rogue Prince of Persia | $29.99 | 2,393 89% | 72k | $2.2M (exactly $2,152,982) | Evil Empire | |
 | Tears of Metal | · EA | $24.99 | 2,359 85% | 71k | $1.8M (exactly $1,768,542) | Paper Cult |
 | Huaxia: Warring States | · EA | $19.99 | 701 61% | 21k | $420k (exactly $420,390) | 秦川汉渚 |
 | FAIRY TAIL 2 | $59.99 | 162 61% | 4.9k | $292k (exactly $291,551) | KOEI TECMO GAMES CO., LTD. | |
 | Warlords Battleground: Extraction | $11.99 | 525 84% | 16k | $189k (exactly $188,842) | 绝汪 | |
 | Lords and Legions | · EA | $18.99 | 59 74% | 1.8k | $34k (exactly $33,612) | Warborne Studios |
 | Dead Wells: The Devil Fragment | $14.99 | 40 70% | 1.2k | $18k (exactly $17,988) | Echo7Project | |
 | MIGLORN | $9.99 | 54 68% | 1.6k | $16k (exactly $16,184) | WuzzyWizard | |
 | Banner of Conquest | $4.99 | 89 65% | 2.7k | $13k (exactly $13,323) | Haojoy Game |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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