Tag pairdata 30 Sep 2026

Hack and Slash + PvE: a typical launch earns $1,061 in its first year

That is the median of 66 indie paid launches, 2024 Q4 to 2025 Q3. 7 of 130 matured launches earned $100k or more, against 8.3 expected for their price and launch quarter. Releases rose 23% on the year before: 101 against 82.

Price: $1,061
Price vs a year earlier: +22.0%
Releases, 12 months: 101
Upcoming games: 346
Games on the store: 718

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 + PvE 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.	0.34%share of upcoming wishlist heat	0.21% to 0.49%	33 ranked of 346 upcoming gameswishlist rank 30 Sep 2026	#670 of 7,193pairs on this board
Launch successLaunches earning $100k or more, against the number expected for their price tier and launch quarter.	0.89xhits against expected	0.60x to 1.38x	130 launchesindie paid launches 31 Mar 2024 to 1 Apr 2026 (6 to 30 months old)	#3,511 of 6,324pairs on this board
Fewer new releasesFewer launches relative to players. Historically this did not predict better launches.	Below this board's minimum sample, so not ranked. Needs 15 or more tracked games and 20 or more releases in each 12-month period.
Rising demandGaining players faster than same-age games. Descriptive, not a launch signal.	Below this board's minimum sample, so not ranked. Needs 15 or more tracked games and 1,000 reviews in each window.

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: 7
Expected: 8.3

Launches: 130
Hit rate: 5.4%3.1% to 10.5%
Expected rate: 6.4%
Against expected: 0.89x0.60x to 1.38x

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

130 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: $728
Top tenth: $29,314

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: 101
Prior 12 months: 82

Change: +23%

Parent tags

Hack and SlashGenre pageRanked on every board, with its best pairs.
PvENot 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 PvE

pairs with PvE

Co-op + PvE$16,63155 launches priced, 88 releases in 12 months
Online Co-Op + PvE$5,26063 launches priced, 100 releases in 12 months
Multiplayer + PvE$2,00370 launches priced, 120 releases in 12 months
PvE + Deckbuilding$1,11233 launches priced, 40 releases in 12 months
Dungeon Crawler + PvE$1,06262 launches priced, 97 releases in 12 months
Simulation + PvE$97141 launches priced, 98 releases in 12 months

Every pair with PvE

Verdicts

in development

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