Do I ship it?

Games › RTS › RTS + Action Roguelike

Specimen · observed

Should I ship an Action Roguelike RTS?

RTS + Action Roguelike

Of 38 developers who shipped an Action Roguelike RTS 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.. 74 more are announced, ×4.1 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 7 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $600, ×0.4 the market's $1.5k for a 7 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $300. 74 games are announced against 18 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.1 per shipper, while revenue is up 390% on the market.

Deciding numbers: median 0.4 times the market baseline, revenue up 390% on the market, 74 announced, ×4.1 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
RTS + Action Roguelike
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 38
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $119 → $899 → $1.9k → $598 → $538 → $861 → $2.0k (still earning) → $1.5k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for RTS + Action Roguelike: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 38
Bottom 30% $299 (exactly $299)
Median $599 (exactly $599)
Top 25% $2.1k (exactly $2,096)
Top 5% $164k (exactly $164,318)
Developers, 2 yr 38
Released games 87
Announced 74
Effort 7 / 10
AI-buildability Low
Typical price $4.99

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 390% on the market, supply 10% fewer developers than the period before.

Free games: 8%, 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.

RTS
effort 7 / 10 · low · effort 7 sits in the low 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
7 / 10 · big single-player or serious online
Systems
RTS, Action Roguelike; 9 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Roguelike, Roguelite, Strategy
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
Art
6 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Top-Down
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 87% positive over 3,663 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $300, median $600, 1 in 4 over $2.0k, 1 in 20 over $160k.

3 in 10 developers made under $300. 9 in 10 of the 21 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 74 games are announced against 18 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.1 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + RomeFair12 devs · median $64k · 13 announced
  2. + Outbreak SimFair16 devs · median $2.6k · 14 announced
  3. + HorrorFair20 devs · median $2.4k · 27 announced
  4. + NavalFair15 devs · median $2.4k · 21 announced
  5. + TabletopFair25 devs · median $1.9k · 33 announced
  6. + SportsLong shot19 devs · median $861 · 9 announced
  7. + PuzzleLong shot48 devs · median $479 · 40 announced
  8. + World War IIPoor odds23 devs · median $105k · 38 announced
  9. + Real-Time with PausePoor odds28 devs · median $64k · 41 announced
  10. + Open WorldPoor odds45 devs · median $35k · 100 announced
  11. + Colony SimPoor odds87 devs · median $31k · 159 announced
  12. + HistoricalPoor odds108 devs · median $30k · 180 announced

All 149 pairs on the RTS page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Bad North: Jotunn Edition 2018 · $5.6M Demon Lord: Just a Block 2026 · $805k Dark Future: Blood Red States (Classic) 2019 · $187k Grit and Valor - 1949 2025 · $164k Iron Marines Invasion 2023 · $150k
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
Demon Lord: Just a Block $12.99 2,065 96% 62k $805k (exactly $804,730) YuWave
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
Warlords Under Siege $9.99 436 77% 13k $131k (exactly $130,669) RedKar Devs
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
Distant Star: Revenant Fleet older $9.99 258 63% 7.7k $77k (exactly $77,323) Blazing Griffin
The Gate Must Stand $9.99 236 78% 7.1k $71k (exactly $70,729) Senmu Studio
Pass Tiger Cage · EA $6.99 34 61% 1.0k $7.1k (exactly $7,130) 中军MT
Just Move:Clean City Messy Battle $15.99 11 45% 330 $5.3k (exactly $5,277) daminggede
TransmuTowers $4.99 14 78% 420 $2.1k (exactly $2,096) Edenic Era LLC

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