Do I ship it?

GamesAction RTSAction RTS + Crafting

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Crafting Action RTS?

Action RTS + Crafting

Only 19 developers shipped a Crafting 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.. 35 more are announced, ×3.5 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $7.2k, ×4.8 the market's $1.5k for a 7 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $270; 1 in 20 cleared $540k, ×366 the market median. Revenue is down 75% on the market; 35 games are announced against 10 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 4.8 times the market baseline, revenue down 75% on the market, 35 announced, ×3.5 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Action RTS + Crafting
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 19
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $1.8k → $1.8k → $7.2k → $418 → $12k (still earning) → $2.3k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Action RTS + Crafting: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 19
Bottom 30% $270 (exactly $270)
Median $7.2k (exactly $7,193)
Top 25% $100k (exactly $99,550)
Top 5% $549k (exactly $548,634)
Developers, 2 yr 19
Released games 44
Announced 35
Effort 7 / 10
AI-buildability Low
Typical price $14.99

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 75% on the market, supply 10% more 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
Crafting
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, Crafting; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Base Building, Sandbox, Strategy
Price point
$14.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $14.99.

The top 10 games average 75% positive over 3,127 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 $7.2k, 1 in 4 over $99k, 1 in 20 over $540k.

3 in 10 developers made under $270. 8 in 10 of the 12 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 35 games are announced against 10 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.5 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
Medieval Kingdom Wars older $14.99 2,233 76% 67k $1.0M (exactly $1,004,180) Reverie World Studios
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
Machine Mind $19.99 567 71% 17k $340k (exactly $340,030) Chudo-Yudo Games
Philna Fantasy $14.99 477 52% 14k $215k (exactly $214,507) Sailike Game
Kingdom Wars 2: Definitive Edition older $9.99 348 66% 10k $104k (exactly $104,296) Reverie World Studios
Knights of the Crusades $19.99 166 69% 5.0k $100k (exactly $99,550) Reverie World Studios
KallaX older $9.99 278 84% 8.3k $83k (exactly $83,317) Unexpected
The Unexpected Quest older $12.99 166 77% 5.0k $65k (exactly $64,690) Rionix
Siren's Well $24.99 62 66% 1.9k $46k (exactly $46,481) OneManOnly Studios
2089 - Space Divided $17.99 28 75% 840 $15k (exactly $15,112) CoastGames GmbH
Stoneguard · EA $6.99 66 75% 2.0k $14k (exactly $13,840) Thorn Spire Games
Stormbridge $14.99 26 80% 780 $12k (exactly $11,692) YYZ Studio
Tribe Nation $9.99 24 79% 720 $7.2k (exactly $7,193) Random Worlds s.r.o.

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