Do I ship it?

Games › Real Time Tactics › Real Time Tactics + Action Roguelike

Specimen · observed

Should I ship an Action Roguelike Real Time Tactics?

Real Time Tactics + Action Roguelike

Of 54 developers who shipped an Action Roguelike Real Time Tactics 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.. 108 more are announced, ×3.5 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $590, ×0.9 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $150; 1 in 20 cleared $160k, ×262 the market median. Revenue is up 35% on the market; 108 games are announced against 31 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 0.9 times the market baseline, revenue up 35% on the market, 108 announced, ×3.5 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Real Time Tactics + Action Roguelike
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 54
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $6.5k → $23k → $1.8k → $1.2k → $599 → $269 → $987 (still earning) → $269 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Real Time Tactics + Action Roguelike: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 54
Bottom 30% $150 (exactly $150)
Median $594 (exactly $594)
Top 25% $3.1k (exactly $3,116)
Top 5% $164k (exactly $164,318)
Developers, 2 yr 54
Released games 113
Announced 108
Effort 6 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $6.99

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 35% on the market, supply 35% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 17%, 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 medium: the lowest rating among its tags.

Real Time Tactics
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
Action Roguelike
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
Systems
Real Time Tactics, Action Roguelike; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Strategy, Roguelite, Action
Price point
$6.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Top-Down
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.

The top 10 games average 77% positive over 2,328 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $150, median $590, 1 in 4 over $3.1k, 1 in 20 over $160k.

3 in 10 developers made under $150. 9 in 10 of the 32 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 108 games are announced against 31 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.5 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Real Time Tactics with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + DragonsStrong odds17 devs · median $6.6k · 19 announced
  2. + Outbreak SimFair12 devs · median $1.8k · 14 announced
  3. + HackingFair11 devs · median $987 · 11 announced
  4. + World War IIPoor odds24 devs · median $67k · 35 announced
  5. + Cold WarPoor odds9 devs · median $19k · 16 announced
  6. + HistoricalPoor odds88 devs · median $19k · 154 announced
  7. + Real-Time with PausePoor odds19 devs · median $16k · 31 announced
  8. + Real-TimePoor odds16 devs · median $16k · 26 announced
  9. + MechsPoor odds16 devs · median $13k · 32 announced
  10. + Vehicular CombatPoor odds20 devs · median $9.6k · 50 announced
  11. + God GamePoor odds19 devs · median $7.8k · 32 announced
  12. + Open WorldPoor odds29 devs · median $7.2k · 111 announced

All 176 pairs on the Real Time Tactics page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Bad North: Jotunn Edition 2018 · $5.6M 👑 Idle Calibur 👑（选王之剑） 2022 · $298k Guidus Zero 2025 · $274k Okhlos: Omega 2016 · $247k Warlords Battleground: Extraction 2026 · $189k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Bad North: Jotunn Edition older $14.99 12,344 93% 370k $5.6M (exactly $5,551,097) Plausible Concept, Oskar Stålberg
👑 Idle Calibur 👑（选王之剑） older $7.99 1,242 85% 37k $298k (exactly $297,707) 绝汪
Guidus Zero $14.99 609 75% 18k $274k (exactly $273,867) izzle
Okhlos: Omega older $12.99 633 78% 19k $247k (exactly $246,680) Coffee Powered Machine
Warlords Battleground: Extraction $11.99 525 84% 16k $189k (exactly $188,842) 绝汪
Dark Future: Blood Red States (Classic) older $24.99 250 70% 7.5k $187k (exactly $187,425) Auroch Digital
Grit and Valor - 1949 $19.99 274 75% 8.2k $164k (exactly $164,318) Milky Tea Studios
Iron Marines Invasion older $14.99 334 66% 10k $150k (exactly $150,200) Ironhide Game Studio
Wartorn $34.99 130 73% 3.9k $136k (exactly $136,461) Stray Kite Studios
Swordship older $19.99 209 85% 6.3k $125k (exactly $125,337) Digital Kingdom
Worship · EA $19.99 197 77% 5.9k $118k (exactly $118,141) Chasing Rats Games
Circle Empires 2 $12.99 266 72% 8.0k $104k (exactly $103,660) Luminous
The Gate Must Stand $9.99 236 78% 7.1k $71k (exactly $70,729) Senmu Studio
Hero's Warband $5.99 55 74% 1.7k $9.9k (exactly $9,884) J.A.P Studio, J.A.P Studio
Remnants of the Rift $14.99 15 86% 450 $6.7k (exactly $6,746) Bromio
Accretion $9.99 21 38% 630 $6.3k (exactly $6,294) ValarFerys

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