Games › Real-Time › Real-Time + Action
Should I ship an Action Real-Time game?
Real-Time + Action
Of 23 developers who shipped an Action Real-Time game in the last 2 years: 3 in 10 made under est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method., the middle one made est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method., 1 in 4 cleared est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method., 1 in 20 cleared est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 42 more are announced, ×3.8 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $6.6k, ×10 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $2.0k; 1 in 20 cleared $9.1M, ×14589 the market median. Revenue is up 145% on the market; 42 games are announced against 11 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $1.9k (exactly $1,918) |
|---|---|
| Median | $6.6k (exactly $6,593) |
| Top 25% | $52k (exactly $52,043) |
| Top 5% | $9.2M (exactly $9,161,667) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 23 |
| Released games | 223 |
| Announced | 42 |
| Effort | 6 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $9.99 |
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 up 145% on the market, supply 10% fewer developers than the period before.
Free games: 8%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- Real-Time, Action; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Strategy, Wargame, Action Roguelike
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $39.99 or above
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $39.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 88% positive over 18,516 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $2.0k. 8 in 10 of the 12 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 42 games are announced against 11 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.8 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Real-Time with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Character CustomizationStrong odds
- + RogueliteFair
- + BuildingPoor odds
- + HistoricalPoor odds
- + WarPoor odds
- + Base BuildingPoor odds
- + WargamePoor odds
- + PhysicsPoor odds
- + Tower DefensePoor odds
- + Action RTSPoor odds
- + StrategyPoor odds
- + RTSPoor odds
Comparable games
Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition 2019 · $167M 
Age of Empires II (Retired) 2013 · $51M 
Company of Heroes 2 2013 · $41M 
Age of Mythology: Extended Edition 2014 · $29M 
Wargame: Red Dragon 2014 · $14M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition | older | $34.99 | 158,931 94% | 4.8M | $167M (exactly $166,829,871) | World's Edge, Forgotten Empires, Captur… (World's Edge, Forgotten Empires, CaptureAge, Tantalus Media, Wicked Witch, Feral Interactive) |
| | Age of Empires II (Retired) | older | $19.99 | 84,818 95% | 2.5M | $51M (exactly $50,865,355) | Skybox Labs, Hidden Path Entertainment,… (Skybox Labs, Hidden Path Entertainment, Ensemble Studios, Forgotten Empires) |
| | Company of Heroes 2 | older | $19.99 | 68,909 80% | 2.1M | $41M (exactly $41,324,727) | Relic Entertainment, Feral Interactive… (Relic Entertainment, Feral Interactive (Mac), Feral Interactive (Linux)) |
| | Age of Mythology: Extended Edition | older | $29.99 | 31,869 93% | 956k | $29M (exactly $28,672,539) | SkyBox Labs, Ensemble Studios, Forgotte… (SkyBox Labs, Ensemble Studios, Forgotten Empires) |
| | Wargame: Red Dragon | older | $29.99 | 15,758 88% | 473k | $14M (exactly $14,177,473) | Eugen Systems |
 | Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II - Anniversary Edition (Classic) | older | $49.99 | 8,084 85% | 243k | $12M (exactly $12,123,575) | Relic Entertainment, Feral Interactive… (Relic Entertainment, Feral Interactive (Mac/Linux)) |
 | Tempest Rising | $39.99 | 9,811 87% | 294k | $12M (exactly $11,770,257) | Slipgate Ironworks™ | |
 | Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak | older | $49.99 | 7,800 79% | 234k | $12M (exactly $11,697,660) | Blackbird Interactive |
 | Iron Harvest | older | $29.99 | 11,682 74% | 350k | $11M (exactly $10,510,295) | KING Art |
 | Sea Power : Naval Combat in the Missile Age | · EA | $49.99 | 6,109 90% | 183k | $9.2M (exactly $9,161,667) | Triassic Games |
 | Omelet You Cook | $14.99 | 1,523 97% | 46k | $685k (exactly $684,893) | Dan Schumacher, Hjalte Tagmose | |
 | Castle Craft | $19.99 | 480 82% | 14k | $288k (exactly $287,856) | Twin Earth | |
 | Sin and Love | $14.99 | 232 65% | 7.0k | $104k (exactly $104,330) | XingCaiStudio | |
 | MORSE | $13.99 | 124 93% | 3.7k | $52k (exactly $52,043) | ALJO Games | |
 | WARSHIFT 2 | $19.99 | 54 70% | 1.6k | $32k (exactly $32,384) | Cyril Megem | |
 | Battlefall: State of Conflict | · EA | $19.99 | 52 63% | 1.6k | $31k (exactly $31,184) | Kyoto Video Game Concern |
 | Boxing Simulator | $7.99 | 79 79% | 2.4k | $19k (exactly $18,936) | Inogames | |
 | Tactical Warfare | $9.99 | 52 67% | 1.6k | $16k (exactly $15,584) | Mizrab |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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