Do I ship it?

GamesAction RTSAction RTS + Destruction

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Destruction Action RTS?

Action RTS + Destruction

Only 10 developers shipped a Destruction 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, The Scouring, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 34 more are announced, ×6.8 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $1.6k, ×1.1 the market's $1.5k for a 7 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $150; 1 in 20 cleared $850k, ×569 the market median. Revenue is up 1045% on the market; 34 games are announced against 5 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.1 times the market baseline, revenue up 1045% on the market, 34 announced, ×6.8 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Action RTS + Destruction
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 10
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $1.8k → $449 → $300 → $43k → $1.9k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Action RTS + Destruction: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 10
Bottom 30% $150 (exactly $150)
Median $1.6k (exactly $1,648)
Top 25% $2.5k (exactly $2,545)
Top 5% $852k (exactly $851,659)
Developers, 2 yr 10
Released games 35
Announced 34
Effort 7 / 10
AI-buildability Low
Typical price $5.99

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 1045% on the market, supply as many developers as 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
Destruction
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, Destruction
Price point
$5.99 typical
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 7 games average 88% positive over 1,255 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $150, median $1.6k, 1 in 4 over $2.5k, 1 in 20 over $850k.

3 in 10 developers made under $150. 8 in 10 of the 6 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 34 games are announced against 5 developers who shipped in the last year, ×6.8 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
Total Conflict: Resistance · EA older $29.99 5,089 74% 153k $4.6M (exactly $4,578,573) Thunder Devs.
Warhammer Age of Sigmar: Realms of Ruin older $59.99 1,867 55% 56k $3.4M (exactly $3,360,040) Frontier Developments
The Scouring · EA $24.99 1,136 88% 34k $852k (exactly $851,659) Orc Group
Ancient Wars: Sparta Definitive Edition · EA older $19.99 453 74% 14k $272k (exactly $271,664) JOTASOFT STUDIOS
Leave No One Behind: Ia Drang older $24.99 299 40% 9.0k $224k (exactly $224,160) Gaming 301
Worbital older $12.99 417 88% 13k $163k (exactly $162,505) Team Jolly Roger
Fire Commander older $14.99 325 66% 9.8k $146k (exactly $146,152) Atomic Wolf, Pixel Crow Games
Operation: Polygon Storm older $14.99 233 69% 7.0k $105k (exactly $104,780) Toxic Studio
IRON GUARD older $14.99 141 95% 4.2k $63k (exactly $63,408) Xlab Digital
Red Chaos - The Strict Order · EA $17.99 79 81% 2.4k $43k (exactly $42,636) Squarecut Games
SpaceCraft Brawl $4.99 17 94% 510 $2.5k (exactly $2,545) ruploz
Wood'N'Destroy $3.99 16 93% 480 $1.9k (exactly $1,915) Abyssal Interactive
Block Strategy $10.99 5 60% 150 $1.6k (exactly $1,648) Marc Makes Games
War to the Core · EA $9.99 1 100% 30 $300 (exactly $300) Forgotten Mines
Black Signal $4.99 1 0% 30 $150 (exactly $150) Matthew Lalande
El Conquista $5.99 0 0% 0 $0 (exactly $0) Dexypher Games
Mystical Sovereign Z $4.99 0 0% 0 $0 (exactly $0) abuyuu0
Rush or Die $1.99 0 0% 0 $0 (exactly $0) 朱莹

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