Tag pairdata 30 Sep 2026

Action + Hack and Slash: a typical launch earns $668 in its first year

That is the median of 248 indie paid launches, 2024 Q4 to 2025 Q3. 51 of 533 matured launches earned $100k or more, against 42.5 expected for their price and launch quarter. Releases rose 34% on the year before: 425 against 317.

Price: $668
Price vs a year earlier: +3.3%
Releases, 12 months: 425
Upcoming games: 1,506
Games on the store: 3,537

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.

Action + Hack and Slash 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. One game dominates the figure Listed after unflagged rows on this board	6.76%share of upcoming wishlist heat	1.38% to 16.62%	158 ranked of 1,506 upcoming gameswishlist rank 30 Sep 2026	#3,849 of 7,193pairs on this board
Launch successLaunches earning $100k or more, against the number expected for their price tier and launch quarter.	1.19xhits against expected	0.96x to 1.46x	533 launchesindie paid launches 31 Mar 2024 to 1 Apr 2026 (6 to 30 months old)	#1,832 of 6,324pairs on this board
Fewer new releasesFewer launches relative to players. Historically this did not predict better launches.	+5%player demand against new supply, relative to Steam	−6% to +22%	136 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025; releases 30 Sep 2025 to 30 Sep 2026 vs prior 12 months	#1,251 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 +12%	136 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025	#665 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: 51
Expected: 42.5

Launches: 533
Hit rate: 9.4%9.2% to 11.7%
Expected rate: 8.0%
Against expected: 1.19x0.96x to 1.46x

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

532 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: $0
Median: $607
Top tenth: $83,137

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: 425
Prior 12 months: 317

Change: +34%
Against Steam: −2%after Steam-wide growth, shrunk by 5 releases

Parent tags

ActionNot a genreA theme, mood, feature or presentation tag: never ranked as a market on its own, only inside pairs.
Hack and SlashGenre 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.

More with Action

pairs with Action

Action + Mechs$7,85932 launches priced, 46 releases in 12 months
Action + Bullet Heaven$6,31331 launches priced, 177 releases in 12 months
Action + Co-op$3,733172 launches priced, 259 releases in 12 months
Action + Team-Based$2,97239 launches priced, 71 releases in 12 months
Action + Metroidvania$2,893107 launches priced, 128 releases in 12 months
Action + Fighting$2,52840 launches priced, 34 releases in 12 months

Every pair with Action

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

Verdicts

in development

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