Do I ship it?

Games › Action RTS › Action RTS + Automation

Specimen · observed

Should I ship an Automation Action RTS?

Action RTS + Automation

Only 12 developers shipped an Automation Action RTS in the last 2 years, too few for firm odds: the middle one made est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.; the top game by est. revenue, Tower Factory, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 23 more are announced, ×3.3 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $2.3k, ×1.5 the market's $1.5k for a 7 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $960; 1 in 20 cleared $540k, ×366 the market median. Revenue is down 60% on the market; 23 games are announced against 7 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.5 times the market baseline, revenue down 60% on the market, 23 announced, ×3.3 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Action RTS + Automation
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 12
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $600 → $281k → $7.8k → $1.1k (still earning) → $2.3k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Action RTS + Automation: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 12
Bottom 30% $959 (exactly $959)
Median $2.3k (exactly $2,279)
Top 25% $16k (exactly $15,588)
Top 5% $549k (exactly $548,634)
Developers, 2 yr 12
Released games 33
Announced 23
Effort 7 / 10
AI-buildability Low
Typical price $7.99

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 60% on the market, supply 40% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 21%, 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
Automation
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, Automation
Price point
$7.99 typical
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 10 games average 87% positive over 1,576 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $960, median $2.3k, 1 in 4 over $15k, 1 in 20 over $540k.

3 in 10 developers made under $960. 9 in 10 of the 7 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 23 games are announced against 7 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

Tower Factory 2024 · EA · $549k No Creeps Were Harmed TD 2024 · $281k D.O.T. Defence 2026 · $88k Guardener 2022 · $22k Illuminaria 2022 · $18k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Tower Factory · EA $14.99 1,220 89% 37k $549k (exactly $548,634) Gius Caminiti
No Creeps Were Harmed TD older $19.99 468 88% 14k $281k (exactly $280,660) MinMax Games Ltd.
D.O.T. Defence $14.99 196 85% 5.9k $88k (exactly $88,141) Rattleaxe Games
Guardener older $4.99 145 83% 4.4k $22k (exactly $21,706) Sokpop Collective
Illuminaria older $14.99 41 82% 1.2k $18k (exactly $18,438) Selva Interactive
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
Idle Together $6.99 37 75% 1.1k $7.8k (exactly $7,759) Eragone
Rebellion Corporation older $7.99 11 90% 330 $2.6k (exactly $2,637) OO Games
Cog Foo $18.99 4 0% 120 $2.3k (exactly $2,279) Anforus Games
Girls vs Goblins $2.99 19 73% 570 $1.7k (exactly $1,704) Maiden Realm
Hill Defender · EA $3.99 9 77% 270 $1.1k (exactly $1,077) Jendimir
Capitalist Misadventures $7.99 4 75% 120 $959 (exactly $959) Caramelo Studios
Cosmic Robots $5.99 1 100% 30 $180 (exactly $180) Aniode

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