Do I ship it?

Games › Action RTS › Action RTS + Combat

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Combat Action RTS?

Action RTS + Combat

Of 113 developers who shipped a Combat 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.. 225 more are announced, ×4.2 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $1.3k, ×0.9 the market's $1.5k for a 7 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $270; 1 in 20 cleared $360k, ×246 the market median. Revenue is down 10% on the market; 225 games are announced against 54 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 0.9 times the market baseline, revenue down 10% on the market, 225 announced, ×4.2 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Action RTS + Combat
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 113
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $599 → $807 → $898 → $1.0k → $2.2k → $599 → $989 (still earning) → $1.7k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Action RTS + Combat: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 113
Bottom 30% $270 (exactly $270)
Median $1.3k (exactly $1,348)
Top 25% $8.8k (exactly $8,832)
Top 5% $368k (exactly $368,103)
Developers, 2 yr 113
Released games 260
Announced 225
Effort 7 / 10
AI-buildability Low
Typical price $8.99

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 10% on the market, supply 10% fewer developers than the period before.

Free games: 18%, 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
Combat
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, Combat; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Strategy, RTS, Action
Price point
$8.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
Art
7 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $8.99.

The top 10 games average 88% positive over 38,237 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $270, median $1.3k, 1 in 4 over $8.8k, 1 in 20 over $360k.

3 in 10 developers made under $270. 8 in 10 of the 71 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 225 games are announced against 54 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.2 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 Sudden Strike 4 2017 · $3.7M Warhammer Age of Sigmar: Realms of Ruin 2023 · $3.4M War Mongrels 2021 · $2.5M
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
Sudden Strike 4 older $19.99 6,249 78% 187k $3.7M (exactly $3,747,525) Kite Games
Warhammer Age of Sigmar: Realms of Ruin older $59.99 1,867 55% 56k $3.4M (exactly $3,360,040) Frontier Developments
War Mongrels older $44.99 1,826 72% 55k $2.5M (exactly $2,464,552) Destructive Creations
PATAPON 1+2 REPLAY $29.99 2,091 83% 63k $1.9M (exactly $1,881,273) SAS CO.,LTD.
Sudden Strike 5 $49.99 641 75% 19k $961k (exactly $961,308) Kite Games
The Scouring · EA $24.99 1,136 88% 34k $852k (exactly $851,659) Orc Group
Waifu Fighter older $7.99 2,677 86% 80k $642k (exactly $641,677) Happy Monster Studio
Darfall $24.99 491 71% 15k $368k (exactly $368,103) SquareNite
Space Reign $19.99 444 72% 13k $266k (exactly $266,267) Propulsive Games
Spirit X Strike · EA $12.99 406 82% 12k $158k (exactly $158,218) MAICHA STUDIO
BattleGroupVR2 · EA $24.99 209 85% 6.3k $157k (exactly $156,687) SpaceOwl Games
Rift Riff $12.99 367 94% 11k $143k (exactly $143,020) Adriaan de Jongh, Sim Kaart, Matthijs K… (Adriaan de Jongh, Sim Kaart, Matthijs Koster, Franz LaZerte, Professional Panda)

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