Tag pairdata 30 Sep 2026

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

That is the median of 34 indie paid launches, 2024 Q4 to 2025 Q3. 5 of 70 matured launches earned $100k or more, against 6.5 expected for their price and launch quarter. Releases fell 10% on the year before: 35 against 39.

Price: $1,415
Price vs a year earlier: +94.8%
Releases, 12 months: 35
Upcoming games: 144
Games on the store: 396

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 + Side Scroller 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.	0.15%share of upcoming wishlist heat	0.10% to 0.18%	19 ranked of 144 upcoming gameswishlist rank 30 Sep 2026	#1,342 of 7,193pairs on this board
Launch successLaunches earning $100k or more, against the number expected for their price tier and launch quarter.	0.84xhits against expected	0.57x to 1.34x	70 launchesindie paid launches 31 Mar 2024 to 1 Apr 2026 (6 to 30 months old)	#3,828 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	+67%player demand against new supply, relative to Steam	+16% to +138%	15 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025; releases 30 Sep 2025 to 30 Sep 2026 vs prior 12 months	#70 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	+12%review growth against same-age games	−1% to +26%	15 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025	#1,588 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: 5
Expected: 6.5

Launches: 70
Hit rate: 7.1%2.6% to 14.1%
Expected rate: 9.3%
Against expected: 0.84x0.57x to 1.34x

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

70 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: $97
Median: $1,315
Top tenth: $66,914

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: 35
Prior 12 months: 39

Change: −10%
Against Steam: −33%after Steam-wide growth, shrunk by 5 releases

Parent tags

Hack and SlashGenre pageRanked on every board, with its best pairs.
Side ScrollerNot a genreA theme, mood, feature or presentation tag: never ranked as a market on its own, only inside 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 Side Scroller

pairs with Side Scroller

Metroidvania + Side Scroller$2,22542 launches priced, 38 releases in 12 months
Side Scroller + Female Protagonist$2,18344 launches priced, 48 releases in 12 months
Side Scroller + Difficult$1,56744 launches priced, 53 releases in 12 months
Side Scroller + Action RPG$1,06132 launches priced, 36 releases in 12 months
Side Scroller + Beat 'em up$81039 launches priced, 43 releases in 12 months
Side Scroller + 2D Fighter$80931 launches priced, 32 releases in 12 months

Every pair with Side Scroller

Verdicts

in development

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