Do I ship it?

Games › Action RTS › Action RTS + Building

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Building Action RTS?

Action RTS + Building

Of 82 developers who shipped a Building 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.. 141 more are announced, ×3.2 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $2.3k, ×1.6 the market's $1.5k for a 7 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $660; 1 in 20 cleared $340k, ×227 the market median. Revenue is up 25% on the market; 141 games are announced against 44 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.6 times the market baseline, revenue up 25% on the market, 141 announced, ×3.2 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Action RTS + Building
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 82
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $2.2k → $659 → $628 → $1.3k → $6.2k → $900 → $2.1k (still earning) → $10k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Action RTS + Building: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 82
Bottom 30% $659 (exactly $659)
Median $2.3k (exactly $2,338)
Top 25% $17k (exactly $17,391)
Top 5% $340k (exactly $340,030)
Developers, 2 yr 82
Released games 184
Announced 141
Effort 7 / 10
AI-buildability Low
Typical price $9.99

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 25% on the market, supply 15% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 14%, 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
Building
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 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, Building; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Strategy, Base Building, RTS
Price point
$9.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
Art
3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Isometric
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.

The top 10 games average 89% positive over 35,773 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $660, median $2.3k, 1 in 4 over $17k, 1 in 20 over $340k.

3 in 10 developers made under $660. 8 in 10 of the 43 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 141 games are announced against 44 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.2 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

Thronefall 2024 · $8.9M Age of Darkness: Final Stand 2025 · $8.0M The Battle of Polytopia 2020 · $2.1M Executive Assault 2 2023 · $1.2M Kingdom Eighties 2023 · $1.1M
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
Age of Darkness: Final Stand $27.99 9,486 74% 285k $8.0M (exactly $7,965,394) PlaySide
The Battle of Polytopia older $14.99 4,731 94% 142k $2.1M (exactly $2,127,531) Midjiwan AB
Executive Assault 2 older $24.99 1,604 82% 48k $1.2M (exactly $1,202,519) Hesketh Studios Ltd
Kingdom Eighties older $11.99 3,001 75% 90k $1.1M (exactly $1,079,460) Fury Studios
The Lost Village older $11.99 2,743 70% 82k $987k (exactly $986,657) FunYoo Games
The Scouring · EA $24.99 1,136 88% 34k $852k (exactly $851,659) Orc Group
Godsworn · EA older $29.99 805 93% 24k $724k (exactly $724,258) Thunderoak Interactive
Bee Island older $9.99 1,612 86% 48k $483k (exactly $483,116) Lemma Arts
Darfall $24.99 491 71% 15k $368k (exactly $368,103) SquareNite
Machine Mind $19.99 567 71% 17k $340k (exactly $340,030) Chudo-Yudo Games
TDS - Tower Defense Strategy $17.99 315 81% 9.5k $170k (exactly $170,005) Blockage
Warlords Under Siege $9.99 436 77% 13k $131k (exactly $130,669) RedKar Devs
Bellfortis $19.99 141 90% 4.2k $85k (exactly $84,558) Rake in Grass
Repterra $19.99 122 90% 3.7k $73k (exactly $73,163) Chute Apps
Artificial Extinction 2 $19.99 113 77% 3.4k $68k (exactly $67,766) 100Hr Games Inc

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