Do I ship it?

Games › Action RTS › Action RTS + 2D Platformer

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a 2D Platformer Action RTS?

Action RTS + 2D Platformer

Only 10 developers shipped a 2D Platformer Action RTS in the last 2 years, too few for firm odds: the middle one made est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.; the top game by est. revenue, PATAPON 1+2 REPLAY, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 17 more are announced, ×2.8 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: dead, for a 7 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $30 in the last 2 years and $60 over 4, against a market of $1.5k for a 7 / 10 build. 6 developers shipped in the last year and 17 games are announced.

Deciding numbers: median 0.0 times the market baseline, revenue down 100% on the market, 17 announced, ×2.8 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Action RTS + 2D Platformer
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 10
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $59 → $628 → $210 → $0 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Action RTS + 2D Platformer: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 10
Bottom 30% $0 (exactly $0)
Median $30 (exactly $30)
Top 25% $1.5k (exactly $1,468)
Top 5% $1.9M (exactly $1,881,273)
Developers, 2 yr 10
Released games 37
Announced 17
Effort 7 / 10
AI-buildability Low
Typical price $3.99

momentum: how a niche's revenue percentiles and developer count moved between two equal, adjacent periods, divided by the market's own move. See method., 12 months: revenue too few recent games to read momentum, supply 50% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 19%, excluded from money figures.

See every window in the explorer →

Plate 2 · systems and tooling

Can AI deliver it?

AI-buildability for this niche is low: the lowest rating among its tags.

Action RTS
effort 7 / 10 · low · effort 7 sits in the low band
2D Platformer
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
7 / 10 · big single-player or serious online
Systems
Action RTS, 2D Platformer
Price point
$3.99 typical
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 5 games average 83% positive over 2,119 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $50, median $30, 1 in 4 over $1.4k, 1 in 20 over $1.8M.

3 in 10 developers made under $50. 9 in 10 of the 8 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 17 games are announced against 6 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.8 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Action RTS with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + Auto BattlerFair24 devs · median $3.0k · 28 announced
  2. + FPSLong shot16 devs · median $899 · 21 announced
  3. + PuzzleLong shot16 devs · median $594 · 16 announced
  4. + Turn-Based StrategyPoor odds12 devs · median $85k · 16 announced
  5. + Turn-Based TacticsPoor odds9 devs · median $85k · 18 announced
  6. + Real-TimePoor odds12 devs · median $31k · 18 announced
  7. + HistoricalPoor odds26 devs · median $29k · 57 announced
  8. + Online Co-OpPoor odds25 devs · median $18k · 54 announced
  9. + SandboxPoor odds30 devs · median $13k · 50 announced
  10. + Procedural GenerationPoor odds22 devs · median $11k · 51 announced
  11. + Grand StrategyPoor odds25 devs · median $7.5k · 41 announced
  12. + 4XPoor odds10 devs · median $7.2k · 23 announced

All 89 pairs on the Action RTS page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

PATAPON 1+2 REPLAY 2025 · $1.9M Smelter 2021 · $99k Drill Deal – Oil Tycoon 2022 · $36k Caveman Craig 2015 · $15k Agent in Depth 2024 · $9.7k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
PATAPON 1+2 REPLAY $29.99 2,091 83% 63k $1.9M (exactly $1,881,273) SAS CO.,LTD.
Smelter older $19.99 165 64% 5.0k $99k (exactly $98,950) X PLUS Co., Ltd.
Drill Deal – Oil Tycoon older $14.99 80 82% 2.4k $36k (exactly $35,976) ·
Caveman Craig older $4.99 100 86% 3.0k $15k (exactly $14,970) Parabox
Agent in Depth older $2.99 108 93% 3.2k $9.7k (exactly $9,688) Naturepixel Studios, SkyBrave
Girls vs Goblins $2.99 19 73% 570 $1.7k (exactly $1,704) Maiden Realm
PicoMix by NuSan $6.99 7 100% 210 $1.5k (exactly $1,468) NuSan, Potico Games
Minion Slayer · EA older $7.99 5 80% 150 $1.2k (exactly $1,198) TansanGames
修真九要 · EA older $5.99 6 83% 180 $1.1k (exactly $1,078) 剑仙工作室
TORINTO older $4.99 5 100% 150 $748 (exactly $748) LEAF TEAM GAMES
Dragon Fall $6.99 1 100% 30 $210 (exactly $210) lucas silva de oliveira
Shark's Treasures Adventure $0.99 1 100% 30 $30 (exactly $30) Sublimedia
WORLDS: The Great Odyssey $4.99 0 0% 0 $0 (exactly $0) Pleroma Studios
The Hard Way $0.99 0 0% 0 $0 (exactly $0) RSX
Descendants of the Dragon $0.99 0 0% 0 $0 (exactly $0) pengjianNiu
Marathon:Glory Run(V1.0) $2.99 0 0% 0 $0 (exactly $0) Qingdao Qilin Ark Network Technology Co… (Qingdao Qilin Ark Network Technology Co.,Ltd.)
Rescue Dogs vs Aliens Tower Defense $3.99 0 0% 0 $0 (exactly $0) GoatCodeLLC

Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.