Tag pairdata 30 Sep 2026
Niches / Hack and Slash / Action RPG
Hack and Slash + Action RPG: a typical launch earns $1,173 in its first year
That is the median of 162 indie paid launches, 2024 Q4 to 2025 Q3. 31 of 306 matured launches earned $100k or more, against 28.1 expected for their price and launch quarter. Releases rose 27% on the year before: 246 against 193.
- Price
- $1,173 median of 162 launches
- Price vs a year earlier
- +20.9% four quarters on the four before
- Releases, 12 months
- 246 193 the year before
- Upcoming games
- 847 coming soon on Steam
- Games on the store
- 1,938 carrying both tags
Boards
as of 30 Sep 2026Where this pair stands on each board of the front page. Every value carries its 90% interval and its sample.
| Board | Value | Interval | Sample | Standing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Most anticipatedShare of all upcoming wishlist heat on Steam, with the number of upcoming games beside it.
| 6.08%share of upcoming wishlist heat | 0.84% to 16.24% | 110 ranked of 847 upcoming gameswishlist rank 30 Sep 2026 | #3,878 of 7,193pairs on this board |
| Launch successLaunches earning $100k or more, against the number expected for their price tier and launch quarter. | 1.09xhits against expected | 0.85x to 1.41x | 306 launchesindie paid launches 31 Mar 2024 to 1 Apr 2026 (6 to 30 months old) | #2,258 of 6,324pairs on this board |
| Fewer new releasesFewer launches relative to players. Historically this did not predict better launches. | +2%player demand against new supply, relative to Steam | −16% to +22% | 102 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025; releases 30 Sep 2025 to 30 Sep 2026 vs prior 12 months | #1,385 of 2,361pairs on this board |
| Rising demandGaining players faster than same-age games. Descriptive, not a launch signal. | −7%review growth against same-age games | −17% to +7% | 102 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025 | #1,106 of 2,461pairs on this board |
Pairs are noisier than genres: the demand boards at pair level are indicative only.
Launch success
launches 6 to 30 months oldMatured indie paid launches that earned an estimated $100k or more, against the number expected for games at the same price tier and launch quarter.
- Launches
- 306
- Hit rate
- 10.1%7.1% to 15.9%
- Expected rate
- 9.2%
- Against expected
- 1.09x0.85x to 1.41x
Launch window: indie paid launches 31 Mar 2024 to 1 Apr 2026 (6 to 30 months old). Hit odds are shrunk toward the Steam-wide rate by 3 expected hits.
Revenue spread
306 launchesEstimated lifetime gross of the same matured launches. Half earned less than the median; one in ten earned more than the top figure.
- Bottom tenth
- $0
- Median
- $1,122
- Top tenth
- $106,680
Estimated from Steam review counts. Lifetime to date, so it differs from the first-year price above.
Supply
raw release countsGames released with both tags, last 12 months against the 12 before.
- Change
- +27%
- Against Steam
- −8%after Steam-wide growth, shrunk by 5 releases
Parent tags
- Hack and SlashGenre pageRanked on every board, with its best pairs.
- Action RPGGenre pageRanked on every board, with its best pairs.
Comparable games
8 indie titlesThe biggest indie games in this pair by estimated lifetime gross. Revenue is shown as a number at 50 or more reviews, as a range at 10 to 49, and not at all below 10.
- Path of Exile 2 (opens the Steam store)2024 · 168,204 reviews, 76% positiveest. $102M
- Hades II (opens the Steam store)2024 · 114,739 reviews, 95% positiveest. $66M
- No Rest for the Wicked (opens the Steam store)2024 · 66,299 reviews, 80% positiveest. $47M
- Solo Leveling: ARISE OVERDRIVE (opens the Steam store)2025 · 7,710 reviews, 71% positiveest. $6M
- Diablo II: Resurrected – Infernal Edition (opens the Steam store)2026 · 6,025 reviews, 86% positiveest. $4.9M
- Anomaly Agent (opens the Steam store)2024 · 9,484 reviews, 94% positiveest. $2.3M
- Jotunnslayer: Hordes of Hel (opens the Steam store)2025 · 7,345 reviews, 82% positiveest. $2M
- Realm of Ink (opens the Steam store)2024 · 5,080 reviews, 90% positiveest. $1.6M
Related niches
pairs with Hack and Slash- Hack and Slash + Female Protagonist$10,32730 launches priced, 52 releases in 12 months
- Hack and Slash + Dark Fantasy$3,96244 launches priced, 67 releases in 12 months
- Hack and Slash + Dungeon Crawler$2,55377 launches priced, 131 releases in 12 months
- Hack and Slash + Roguelite$1,870112 launches priced, 172 releases in 12 months
- Hack and Slash + Roguelike$1,870102 launches priced, 145 releases in 12 months
- Hack and Slash + Action Roguelike$1,514157 launches priced, 227 releases in 12 months
More with Action RPG
pairs with Action RPG- Action RPG + Loot$5,00732 launches priced, 55 releases in 12 months
- Action RPG + Female Protagonist$2,63047 launches priced, 67 releases in 12 months
- Action RPG + Isometric$2,42839 launches priced, 51 releases in 12 months
- Anime + Action RPG$2,40730 launches priced, 64 releases in 12 months
- Action RPG + Dark Fantasy$2,34646 launches priced, 94 releases in 12 months
- Metroidvania + Action RPG$1,94335 launches priced, 49 releases in 12 months
Verdicts
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