Tag pairdata 30 Sep 2026
Niches / Hack and Slash / Story Rich
Hack and Slash + Story Rich: 29 releases in the last 12 months
There is no price yet: it needs 30 or more indie paid launches in the last four complete quarters. 7 of 47 matured launches earned $100k or more, against 6.6 expected for their price and launch quarter. Releases rose 26% on the year before: 29 against 23.
- China market: over 35% of reviews are Chinese
- One game dominates the figure
- Price
- n/a under 30 launches
- Price vs a year earlier
- n/a no price
- Releases, 12 months
- 29 23 the year before
- Upcoming games
- 145 coming soon on Steam
- Games on the store
- 307 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.
| 0.23%share of upcoming wishlist heat | 0.10% to 0.41% | 23 ranked of 145 upcoming gameswishlist rank 30 Sep 2026 | #4,937 of 7,193pairs on this board |
Launch successLaunches earning $100k or more, against the number expected for their price tier and launch quarter.
| 1.05xhits against expected | 0.72x to 1.56x | 47 launchesindie paid launches 31 Mar 2024 to 1 Apr 2026 (6 to 30 months old) | #6,035 of 6,324pairs on this board |
Fewer new releasesFewer launches relative to players. Historically this did not predict better launches.
| +15%player demand against new supply, relative to Steam | −20% to +62% | 21 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025; releases 30 Sep 2025 to 30 Sep 2026 vs prior 12 months | #932 of 2,361pairs on this board |
Rising demandGaining players faster than same-age games. Descriptive, not a launch signal.
| +3%review growth against same-age games | −6% to +13% | 21 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025 | #1,829 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
- 47
- Hit rate
- 14.9%4.9% to 27.5%
- Expected rate
- 14.0%
- Against expected
- 1.05x0.72x to 1.56x
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
47 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
- $73
- Median
- $8,743
- Top tenth
- $199,784
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
- +26%
- Against Steam
- −10%after Steam-wide growth, shrunk by 5 releases
Parent tags
- Hack and SlashGenre pageRanked on every board, with its best pairs.
- Story RichNot a genreA theme, mood, feature or presentation tag: never ranked as a market on its own, only inside 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.
- Solo Leveling: ARISE OVERDRIVE (opens the Steam store)2025 · 7,710 reviews, 71% positiveest. $6M
- 下一站江湖Ⅱ (opens the Steam store)2024 · 8,529 reviews, 72% positiveest. $2.5M
- Three Kingdoms Zhao Yun (opens the Steam store)2024 · 3,833 reviews, 66% positiveest. $927k
- Crashlands 2 (opens the Steam store)2025 · 2,207 reviews, 88% positiveest. $819k
- Mahou Arms (opens the Steam store)2026 · 624 reviews, 73% positiveest. $505k
- Butcher's Creek (opens the Steam store)2025 · 1,546 reviews, 94% positiveest. $313k
- The Knightling (opens the Steam store)2025 · 503 reviews, 86% positiveest. $305k
- EXD - Extra Dimensional (opens the Steam store)2026 · 322 reviews, 82% positiveest. $196k
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 Story Rich
pairs with Story Rich- Story Rich + Narrative$13,10440 launches priced, 59 releases in 12 months
- Story Rich + Historical$9,68533 launches priced, 53 releases in 12 months
- Story Rich + Investigation$8,90370 launches priced, 96 releases in 12 months
- Turn-Based Strategy + Story Rich$8,09741 launches priced, 43 releases in 12 months
- Story Rich + Supernatural$5,82533 launches priced, 45 releases in 12 months
- Story Rich + Dating Sim$5,71476 launches priced, 97 releases in 12 months
Verdicts
in developmentGMD Verdicts will be a written read on a niche, built from the same data and the published method on this site. Join the early list and we will email you when the first ones are ready. Nothing on this page is held back while you wait.