Tag pairdata 30 Sep 2026

Hack and Slash + Bullet Hell: a typical launch earns $1,415 in its first year

That is the median of 63 indie paid launches, 2024 Q4 to 2025 Q3. 8 of 113 matured launches earned $100k or more, against 4.4 expected for their price and launch quarter. Releases rose 25% on the year before: 86 against 69.

Price: $1,415
Price vs a year earlier: −39.1%
Releases, 12 months: 86
Upcoming games: 178
Games on the store: 462

Boards

as of 30 Sep 2026

Where this pair stands on each board of the front page. Every value carries its 90% interval and its sample.

Hack and Slash + Bullet Hell on each board
Board	Value	Interval	Sample	Standing
Most anticipatedShare of all upcoming wishlist heat on Steam, with the number of upcoming games beside it.	0.04%share of upcoming wishlist heat	0.02% to 0.07%	12 ranked of 178 upcoming gameswishlist rank 30 Sep 2026	#2,761 of 7,193pairs on this board
Launch successLaunches earning $100k or more, against the number expected for their price tier and launch quarter.	1.49xhits against expected	1.02x to 2.26x	113 launchesindie paid launches 31 Mar 2024 to 1 Apr 2026 (6 to 30 months old)	#763 of 6,324pairs on this board
Fewer new releasesFewer launches relative to players. Historically this did not predict better launches. One game dominates the figure	+3%player demand against new supply, relative to Steam	−23% to +46%	20 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025; releases 30 Sep 2025 to 30 Sep 2026 vs prior 12 months	#1,347 of 2,361pairs on this board
Rising demandGaining players faster than same-age games. Descriptive, not a launch signal. One game dominates the figure Listed after unflagged rows on this board	−9%review growth against same-age games	−22% to +7%	20 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025	#2,412 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 old

Matured indie paid launches that earned an estimated $100k or more, against the number expected for games at the same price tier and launch quarter.

Hits: 8
Expected: 4.4

Launches: 113
Hit rate: 7.1%4.4% to 14.3%
Expected rate: 3.9%
Against expected: 1.49x1.02x to 2.26x

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

113 launches

Estimated lifetime gross of the same matured launches. Half earned less than the median; one in ten earned more than the top figure.

Bottom tenth: $81
Median: $1,415
Top tenth: $80,209

Estimated from Steam review counts. Lifetime to date, so it differs from the first-year price above.

Supply

raw release counts

Games released with both tags, last 12 months against the 12 before.

Last 12 months: 86
Prior 12 months: 69

Change: +25%
Against Steam: −11%after Steam-wide growth, shrunk by 5 releases

Parent tags

Hack and SlashGenre pageRanked on every board, with its best pairs.
Bullet HellGenre pageRanked on every board, with its best pairs.

Comparable games

8 indie titles

The 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.

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

Every pair with Hack and Slash

More with Bullet Hell

pairs with Bullet Hell

Bullet Hell + Bullet Heaven$14,81455 launches priced, 178 releases in 12 months
Bullet Hell + Female Protagonist$4,45135 launches priced, 39 releases in 12 months
Difficult + Bullet Hell$2,12150 launches priced, 58 releases in 12 months
Twin Stick Shooter + Bullet Hell$1,69964 launches priced, 104 releases in 12 months
Bullet Hell + Procedural Generation$1,36634 launches priced, 34 releases in 12 months
Roguelike + Bullet Hell$1,354242 launches priced, 435 releases in 12 months

Every pair with Bullet Hell

Verdicts

in development

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