Do I ship it?

Games › Action RTS › Action RTS + Auto Battler

Specimen · observed

Should I ship an Auto Battler Action RTS?

Action RTS + Auto Battler

Of 24 developers who shipped an Auto Battler 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.. 28 more are announced.

Verdict: fair, for a 7 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $3.0k, ×2.0 the market's $1.5k for a 7 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $450. Revenue is up 170% on the market; 28 games are announced against 14 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 2.0 times the market baseline, revenue up 170% on the market, 28 announced, ×2.0 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Action RTS + Auto Battler
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 24
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $180 → $3.4k → $0 → $4.5k → $27k (still earning) → $4.8k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Action RTS + Auto Battler: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 24
Bottom 30% $449 (exactly $449)
Median $3.0k (exactly $2,997)
Top 25% $16k (exactly $15,588)
Top 5% $8.0M (exactly $8,029,843)
Developers, 2 yr 24
Released games 51
Announced 28
Effort 7 / 10
AI-buildability Low
Typical price $5.99

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 170% on the market, supply 40% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 16%, 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
Auto Battler
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, Auto Battler; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Strategy, Action, Base Building
Price point
$5.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
Art
5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Minimalist, 3D, Colorful
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.

The top 10 games average 91% positive over 41,480 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $450, median $3.0k, 1 in 4 over $15k, 1 in 20 over $8.0M.

3 in 10 developers made under $450. 8 in 10 of the 13 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 28 games are announced against 14 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + FPSLong shot16 devs · median $899 · 21 announced
  2. + PuzzleLong shot16 devs · median $594 · 16 announced
  3. + Turn-Based StrategyPoor odds12 devs · median $85k · 16 announced
  4. + Turn-Based TacticsPoor odds9 devs · median $85k · 18 announced
  5. + Real-TimePoor odds12 devs · median $31k · 18 announced
  6. + HistoricalPoor odds26 devs · median $29k · 57 announced
  7. + Online Co-OpPoor odds25 devs · median $18k · 54 announced
  8. + SandboxPoor odds30 devs · median $13k · 50 announced
  9. + Procedural GenerationPoor odds22 devs · median $11k · 51 announced
  10. + Grand StrategyPoor odds25 devs · median $7.5k · 41 announced
  11. + 4XPoor odds10 devs · median $7.2k · 23 announced
  12. + CraftingPoor odds19 devs · median $7.2k · 35 announced

All 89 pairs on the Action RTS page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Thronefall 2024 · $8.9M Mechabellum 2024 · $8.0M Line War 2022 · $807k Northend Tower Defense 2024 · $314k WARCANA 2024 · $226k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Thronefall $12.99 22,966 96% 689k $8.9M (exactly $8,949,850) GrizzlyGames, Mythwright
Mechabellum $14.99 17,856 84% 536k $8.0M (exactly $8,029,843) Game River
Line War older $24.99 1,076 80% 32k $807k (exactly $806,677) Studio Centurion
Northend Tower Defense older $7.99 1,309 75% 39k $314k (exactly $313,767) Northend Games
WARCANA older $16.99 443 62% 13k $226k (exactly $225,797) 1000 Orks
Operation: Polygon Storm older $14.99 233 69% 7.0k $105k (exactly $104,780) Toxic Studio
D.O.T. Defence $14.99 196 85% 5.9k $88k (exactly $88,141) Rattleaxe Games
Swarm Queen older $7.49 384 94% 12k $86k (exactly $86,285) Helmi Bastami (Flyborg.net)
Roma Invicta older $5.99 231 83% 6.9k $42k (exactly $41,511) Puntigames
Red Rocket Defencism $7.99 172 98% 5.2k $41k (exactly $41,228) tiny cactus studio
Wool at the Gates $8.99 100 92% 3.0k $27k (exactly $26,970) Okay Creature
Flow Of War $12.99 40 85% 1.2k $16k (exactly $15,588) Rongcon Games
Echoes of the Architects $9.99 46 80% 1.4k $14k (exactly $13,786) GFX47
Warena $9.99 42 52% 1.3k $13k (exactly $12,587) Part Time Monkey
BEACONFALL $4.99 32 90% 960 $4.8k (exactly $4,790) Game Dynasty
Marshals of Yore $4.99 30 90% 900 $4.5k (exactly $4,491) One Man Horde

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