Do I ship it?

Games › Action RTS › Action RTS + Hack and Slash

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Hack and Slash Action RTS?

Action RTS + Hack and Slash

Of 29 developers who shipped a Hack and Slash 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.. 28 more are announced.

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

The middle developer here made $1.5k, level with the market's $1.5k for a 7 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $300; 1 in 20 cleared $180k, ×126 the market median. Revenue is down 75% on the market; 28 games are announced against 15 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.0 times the market baseline, revenue down 75% on the market, 28 announced, ×1.9 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Action RTS + Hack and Slash
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 29
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $1.2k → $4.0k → $1.2k → $2.2k → $898 → $6.5k (still earning) → $449 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Action RTS + Hack and Slash: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 29
Bottom 30% $300 (exactly $300)
Median $1.5k (exactly $1,497)
Top 25% $5.3k (exactly $5,277)
Top 5% $189k (exactly $188,842)
Developers, 2 yr 29
Released games 63
Announced 28
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 75% on the market, supply as many developers as the period before.

Free games: 16%, 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
Hack and Slash
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, Hack and Slash; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Strategy, Tower Defense
Price point
$8.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Colorful, Cute
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $8.99.

The top 10 games average 83% positive over 3,048 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $300, median $1.5k, 1 in 4 over $5.2k, 1 in 20 over $180k.

3 in 10 developers made under $300. 9 in 10 of the 17 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 28 games are announced against 15 developers who shipped in the last year.

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

下一站江湖Ⅱ 2024 · $6.4M PATAPON 1+2 REPLAY 2025 · $1.9M Fate Seeker: Journey 2022 · $332k GUILTY GEAR 2 -OVERTURE- 2016 · $255k Undead Horde 2: Necropolis 2023 · $228k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
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
PATAPON 1+2 REPLAY $29.99 2,091 83% 63k $1.9M (exactly $1,881,273) SAS CO.,LTD.
Fate Seeker: Journey older $10.00 1,105 77% 33k $332k (exactly $331,500) JSL Entertainment
GUILTY GEAR 2 -OVERTURE- older $19.99 426 76% 13k $255k (exactly $255,472) Arc System Works
Undead Horde 2: Necropolis older $16.99 447 83% 13k $228k (exactly $227,836) 10tons Ltd
Warlords Battleground: Extraction $11.99 525 84% 16k $189k (exactly $188,842) 绝汪
Smelter older $19.99 165 64% 5.0k $99k (exactly $98,950) X PLUS Co., Ltd.
Forest Heroes $9.99 278 83% 8.3k $83k (exactly $83,317) Hoochoo Game Studios
MIGLORN $9.99 54 68% 1.6k $16k (exactly $16,184) WuzzyWizard
Tempest Tower $14.99 24 83% 720 $11k (exactly $10,793) Half Past Yellow
Misty Land $8.99 24 79% 720 $6.5k (exactly $6,473) Branches Games
Crypt Keeper $9.99 20 100% 600 $6.0k (exactly $5,994) Viron Games
Just Move:Clean City Messy Battle $15.99 11 45% 330 $5.3k (exactly $5,277) daminggede
Knights of Conquest: Feudal Shenanigans Galore · EA $11.99 10 80% 300 $3.6k (exactly $3,597) ES Galore
Skel Dungeon: Heroes Must Die! $8.99 11 54% 330 $3.0k (exactly $2,967) Buff Studio

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