Tag pairdata 30 Sep 2026

Hack and Slash + Difficult: 32 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. 8 of 55 matured launches earned $100k or more, against 5.9 expected for their price and launch quarter. Releases rose 3% on the year before: 32 against 31.

Big publishers: over 85% from majors or $40+ games

Price: n/a
Price vs a year earlier: n/a
Releases, 12 months: 32
Upcoming games: 119
Games on the store: 339

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 + Difficult 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.	0.16%share of upcoming wishlist heat	0.09% to 0.31%	20 ranked of 119 upcoming gameswishlist rank 30 Sep 2026	#1,222 of 7,193pairs on this board
Launch successLaunches earning $100k or more, against the number expected for their price tier and launch quarter. Big publishers: over 85% from majors or $40+ games	1.24xhits against expected	0.86x to 1.83x	55 launchesindie paid launches 31 Mar 2024 to 1 Apr 2026 (6 to 30 months old)	#1,591 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	+37%player demand against new supply, relative to Steam	−7% to +95%	29 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025; releases 30 Sep 2025 to 30 Sep 2026 vs prior 12 months	#345 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	+4%review growth against same-age games	−8% to +16%	29 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025	#1,776 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: 5.9

Launches: 55
Hit rate: 14.5%8.6% to 26.8%
Expected rate: 10.7%
Against expected: 1.24x0.86x to 1.83x

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

55 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: $40
Median: $4,042
Top tenth: $208,872

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: 32
Prior 12 months: 31

Change: +3%
Against Steam: −24%after Steam-wide growth, shrunk by 5 releases

Parent tags

Hack and SlashGenre pageRanked on every board, with its best pairs.
DifficultNot 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 Difficult

pairs with Difficult

RPG + Difficult$8,09240 launches priced, 39 releases in 12 months
Roguelike + Difficult$3,64173 launches priced, 93 releases in 12 months
Roguelite + Difficult$3,03570 launches priced, 97 releases in 12 months
Difficult + Action Roguelike$2,42672 launches priced, 73 releases in 12 months
Difficult + Souls-like$2,12341 launches priced, 39 releases in 12 months
Difficult + Bullet Hell$2,12150 launches priced, 58 releases in 12 months

Every pair with Difficult

Verdicts

in development

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