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Should I ship a City Builder Action RTS?
Action RTS + City Builder
Of 45 developers who shipped a City Builder 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.. 74 more are announced, ×2.8 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 7 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $6.0k, ×4.0 the market's $1.5k for a 7 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $990; 1 in 20 cleared $540k, ×366 the market median. Revenue is up 40% on the market; 74 games are announced against 26 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $989 (exactly $989) |
|---|---|
| Median | $6.0k (exactly $5,994) |
| Top 25% | $41k (exactly $41,228) |
| Top 5% | $549k (exactly $548,634) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 45 |
| Released games | 96 |
| Announced | 74 |
| 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 40% on the market, supply 30% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 6%, excluded from money figures.
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
- City Builder
- effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 7 / 10 · big single-player or serious online
- Systems
- Action RTS, City Builder; 9 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Base Building, Strategy, RTS
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 93% positive over 27,320 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $990. 7 in 10 of the 23 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 74 games are announced against 26 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.8 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Action RTS with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Auto BattlerFair
- + FPSLong shot
- + PuzzleLong shot
- + Turn-Based StrategyPoor odds
- + Turn-Based TacticsPoor odds
- + Real-TimePoor odds
- + HistoricalPoor odds
- + Online Co-OpPoor odds
- + SandboxPoor odds
- + Procedural GenerationPoor odds
- + Grand StrategyPoor odds
- + 4XPoor odds
Comparable games
Age of Empires IV: Anniversary Edition 2021 · $87M 
Thronefall 2024 · $8.9M 
Cossacks 3 2016 · $7.4M 
下一站江湖Ⅱ 2024 · $6.4M 
Command & Conquer 3 Tiberium Wars™ 2009 · $1.8M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Age of Empires IV: Anniversary Edition | older | $39.99 | 72,275 85% | 2.2M | $87M (exactly $86,708,318) | World's Edge, Relic Entertainment, Forg… (World's Edge, Relic Entertainment, Forgotten Empires, Climax Studios) |
| | Thronefall | $12.99 | 22,966 96% | 689k | $8.9M (exactly $8,949,850) | GrizzlyGames, Mythwright | |
| | Cossacks 3 | older | $19.99 | 12,406 82% | 372k | $7.4M (exactly $7,439,878) | GSC Game World |
| | 下一站江湖Ⅱ | older | $24.99 | 8,507 72% | 255k | $6.4M (exactly $6,377,698) | 白玉京工作室 |
| | Command & Conquer 3 Tiberium Wars™ | older | $6.96 | 8,777 89% | 263k | $1.8M (exactly $1,832,638) | EA Los Angeles |
 | ZeroSpace | · EA | $39.99 | 1,161 78% | 35k | $1.4M (exactly $1,392,852) | Starlance Studios, Ironward |
 | Gord | older | $49.99 | 809 53% | 24k | $1.2M (exactly $1,213,257) | Covenant.dev |
 | Kingdom Eighties | older | $11.99 | 3,001 75% | 90k | $1.1M (exactly $1,079,460) | Fury Studios |
 | Medieval Kingdom Wars | older | $14.99 | 2,233 76% | 67k | $1.0M (exactly $1,004,180) | Reverie World Studios |
 | The Lost Village | older | $11.99 | 2,743 70% | 82k | $987k (exactly $986,657) | FunYoo Games |
 | Tower Factory | · EA | $14.99 | 1,220 89% | 37k | $549k (exactly $548,634) | Gius Caminiti |
 | Darfall | $24.99 | 491 71% | 15k | $368k (exactly $368,103) | SquareNite | |
 | Here Comes The Swarm | · EA | $19.99 | 358 84% | 11k | $215k (exactly $214,693) | CableHook Games |
 | Warlords Under Siege | $9.99 | 436 77% | 13k | $131k (exactly $130,669) | RedKar Devs | |
 | Knights of the Crusades | $19.99 | 166 69% | 5.0k | $100k (exactly $99,550) | Reverie World Studios | |
 | Repterra | $19.99 | 122 90% | 3.7k | $73k (exactly $73,163) | Chute Apps | |
 | Final Outpost: Definitive Edition | $9.99 | 208 76% | 6.2k | $62k (exactly $62,338) | Exabyte Games | |
 | Colonize | $9.99 | 192 39% | 5.8k | $58k (exactly $57,542) | Rembrosoft |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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