Do I ship it?

Games › Action RTS › Action RTS + Action-Adventure

Specimen · observed

Should I ship an Action-Adventure Action RTS?

Action RTS + Action-Adventure

Of 54 developers who shipped an Action-Adventure Action 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.. 85 more are announced, ×3.3 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: dead, for a 7 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $300 in the last 2 years and $390 over 4, against a market of $1.5k for a 7 / 10 build. 26 developers shipped in the last year and 85 games are announced.

Deciding numbers: median 0.2 times the market baseline, revenue down 20% on the market, 85 announced, ×3.3 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Action RTS + Action-Adventure
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: $299 → $5.9k → $449 → $299 → $299 → $270 → $405 (still earning) → $0 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Action RTS + Action-Adventure: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 54
Bottom 30% $60 (exactly $60)
Median $299 (exactly $299)
Top 25% $3.0k (exactly $2,960)
Top 5% $215k (exactly $214,507)
Developers, 2 yr 54
Released games 154
Announced 85
Effort 7 / 10
AI-buildability Low
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 down 20% on the market, supply as many developers as the period before.

Free games: 18%, 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
Action-Adventure
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 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
Action RTS, Action-Adventure; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Adventure, Real Time Tactics
Price point
$6.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Realistic, Story Rich
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.

The top 10 games average 79% positive over 4,675 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $60, median $300, 1 in 4 over $2.9k, 1 in 20 over $210k.

3 in 10 developers made under $60. 9 in 10 of the 37 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 85 games are announced against 26 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.3 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 Gord 2023 · $1.2M Machine Mind 2026 · $340k Cosmic Trip 2017 · $245k Philna Fantasy 2026 · $215k
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.
Gord older $49.99 809 53% 24k $1.2M (exactly $1,213,257) Covenant.dev
Machine Mind $19.99 567 71% 17k $340k (exactly $340,030) Chudo-Yudo Games
Cosmic Trip older $19.99 409 87% 12k $245k (exactly $245,277) Funktronic Labs
Philna Fantasy $14.99 477 52% 14k $215k (exactly $214,507) Sailike Game
Vade Retro : Exorcist older $6.99 921 70% 28k $193k (exactly $193,134) Forceight
Warlords Battleground: Extraction $11.99 525 84% 16k $189k (exactly $188,842) 绝汪
Spirit X Strike · EA $12.99 406 82% 12k $158k (exactly $158,218) MAICHA STUDIO
Iron Marines Invasion older $14.99 334 66% 10k $150k (exactly $150,200) Ironhide Game Studio
Dragon Princess is Hungry older $19.99 216 92% 6.5k $130k (exactly $129,535) TashiKani
BURGGEIST $12.00 260 97% 7.8k $94k (exactly $93,600) GHRIAN STUDIO
Chip ‘n Clawz vs. The Brainioids $29.99 90 83% 2.7k $81k (exactly $80,973) Snapshot Games Inc.
Artificial Extinction 2 $19.99 113 77% 3.4k $68k (exactly $67,766) 100Hr Games Inc
Siren's Well $24.99 62 66% 1.9k $46k (exactly $46,481) OneManOnly Studios
DRONE PERSPECTIVE · EA $12.99 84 88% 2.5k $33k (exactly $32,735) Demetri Lind

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