Hack and slash games used to be the in thing in the sixth generation. Every Devil May Cry games sold 3 million, every God of War game sold 4 million. It was always a single player thing but at the time single player was popular.
Seventh generation saw the rise of online multiplayer in games and the genres that benefitted most from this were shooters. Every Gears of War, Halo and Call of Duty broke sales reords. Genres that couldn't adapt to this declined, except for RPG's, because now it was all about the number of hours you could spend in a game not the quality of those hours, it was about the story not the gameplay. Yes we saw some successes like God of War 3 selling 5 million, Bayonetta selling 2 million, and DMC 4 and MGR R also being successful. But most AAA hack and slash games didn't sell, such as God of War clones like Dante's Iferno and Castlevania Lords of Shadow and Ninja Gaiden games which was a major franchise in the genre.
Even the best seller in the genre, God of War 3 still sold measly amounts compared to many franchises in other genres. Several FPS games like COD, Battlefield, Halo Borderlands routinely outsold the genre best seller in God of War 3. Even among RPG's there were Skyrim and Fallout that sold more, and that was the case for several genres. Well reviewed games like DMC Devil May Cry sold poorly. Publishers saw that and the output of games in the genre gradually declined.
Move to current generation and there have been very few AAA games in the genre, I couold count them on one hand. Most of them have been developed by Platinum. The state of the genre is so dire that even genre leader Santa Monica Studio has shyd away from the genre that they ruled, with the coming God of War looking more like Western beat em ups than a hack and slash game. When thegenre leader pulls out you know its a bad situation. Its so bad that we now accept low budget games with severe issues as one of the best in the genre, I'm speaking of Transformers: Devastation. Upcoming games in the genre like Hellblade don't even have much hype, even with such few options.[UPDATED]
Hack and slash games have become niche due to many people glossing over them as crazy and unrealistic and thinking they are button mashers by looking at someone else playing the game. This has to do with the genre being doiminated by Japanese developers who make crazy games, but that doesn't appeal to Western audiences. They want an emotional story, likeable protagonist, open world, online multiplayer, hundred hours of content and Assassin's Creed and Withcre 3 like combat where it has realistic animations but is actually a crappy combat system.
Also the low output of the genre hurts it. When there are so few games bveing made in the genre, innovation is sparse and that leads to stagnation. The genre still relies a lot on what was established by 2005 and while Metal Gear Rising was quite innovative its innovation wasn't properly integrated in the package and also hasn't been followed up by any other game where it could have been implemented better.
Also we have juggernauts like God of War going into another genre, Metal Gear Rising not getting a sequel, Devil May Cry games not being made despite Devil May Cry 4 and Special Edition selling well, Ninja Gaiden not getting good games and Bayonetta not selling well enough for sequels. I'm excited for Hellblade as its being made by Ninja Theory, but there is so little to be excited for in this genre. There is the recently released Nier Automata which is a masterpiece and there is Darksiders 3 which looks alright from what I've seen but comapre that to the output in other genres and you'll see that we have a problem here. A crisis in the genre if you will. This is sad because its my favourite genre in gaming and I want to see it do well. That's why I made the thread on Nier Automata dso more people buy it but it wouldn't do. I'd say if you're a fan of the genre bring a buddy who is a gamer to your hose and make him play a game that you think defines the genre. Not making him look at you playing but making him play for a couple of hours. I think that way we can change people's perception of this genre.
Update: God of War's E3 gameplay this year shows that it is in fact a hack and slash game. Things lookinga bit better for the genre, with Hellblade coming this year and Darksiders 3 and God of War coming next year. But I think God of War is the only one of these games that will sell well.
