Do I ship it?

GamesAction RTSAction RTS + Colony Sim

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Colony Sim Action RTS?

Action RTS + Colony Sim

Of 23 developers who shipped a Colony Sim 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.. 42 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 $4.8k, ×3.2 the market's $1.5k for a 7 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $660; 1 in 20 cleared $360k, ×246 the market median. Revenue is up 305% on the market; 42 games are announced against 13 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 3.2 times the market baseline, revenue up 305% on the market, 42 announced, ×3.2 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Action RTS + Colony Sim
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 23
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $483k → $645k → $13k → $180 → $12k (still earning) → $54k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Action RTS + Colony Sim: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 23
Bottom 30% $659 (exactly $659)
Median $4.8k (exactly $4,790)
Top 25% $62k (exactly $62,338)
Top 5% $368k (exactly $368,103)
Developers, 2 yr 23
Released games 51
Announced 42
Effort 7 / 10
AI-buildability Low
Typical price $10.99

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 305% on the market, supply 30% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 8%, 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
Colony Sim
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, Colony Sim; all of the top 25% also carry Base Building, RTS, Resource Management
Price point
$10.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Isometric, 3D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $10.99.

The top 10 games average 84% positive over 12,933 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 $4.8k, 1 in 4 over $62k, 1 in 20 over $360k.

3 in 10 developers made under $660. 6 in 10 of the 11 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 42 games are announced against 13 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

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Diplomacy is Not an Option $29.99 10,904 85% 327k $9.8M (exactly $9,810,329) Door 407
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
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
The Lost Village older $11.99 2,743 70% 82k $987k (exactly $986,657) FunYoo Games
From Glory To Goo · EA older $11.99 1,794 96% 54k $645k (exactly $645,302) Stratagem Blue
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
Calyx · EA $24.99 471 88% 14k $353k (exactly $353,109) Studio 568
Here Comes The Swarm · EA $19.99 358 84% 11k $215k (exactly $214,693) CableHook Games
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
Machinefall $14.99 119 82% 3.6k $54k (exactly $53,514) by Jan Zizka
Scarecropia $9.99 42 88% 1.3k $13k (exactly $12,587) JYP Studio
Stormbridge $14.99 26 80% 780 $12k (exactly $11,692) YYZ Studio

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