Do I ship it?

Games › Action RTS › Action RTS + Local Multiplayer

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Local Multiplayer Action RTS?

Action RTS + Local Multiplayer

Only 12 developers shipped a Local Multiplayer 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, Chip ‘n Clawz vs. The Brainioids, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 19 more are announced, ×3.8 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $1.8k, ×1.2 the market's $1.5k for a 7 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $300; 1 in 20 cleared $80k, ×54 the market median. Revenue is up 500% on the market; 19 games are announced against 5 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.2 times the market baseline, revenue up 500% on the market, 19 announced, ×3.8 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Action RTS + Local Multiplayer
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 12
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $479 → $1.8k → $59 → $4.5k
Outcomes for Action RTS + Local Multiplayer: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 12
Bottom 30% $299 (exactly $299)
Median $1.8k (exactly $1,797)
Top 25% $4.5k (exactly $4,491)
Top 5% $81k (exactly $80,973)
Developers, 2 yr 12
Released games 27
Announced 19
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 500% on the market, supply 30% fewer developers than the period before.

Free games: 7%, 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
Local Multiplayer
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 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, Local Multiplayer
Price point
$5.99 typical
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 10 games average 88% positive over 177 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 $1.8k, 1 in 4 over $4.4k, 1 in 20 over $80k.

3 in 10 developers made under $300. All of the 9 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 19 games are announced against 5 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.8 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

GUILTY GEAR 2 -OVERTURE- 2016 · $255k Worbital 2019 · $163k Chip ‘n Clawz vs. The Brainioids 2025 · $81k HELLFRONT: HONEYMOON 2018 · $19k Jelly Troops 2025 · $5.9k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
GUILTY GEAR 2 -OVERTURE- older $19.99 426 76% 13k $255k (exactly $255,472) Arc System Works
Worbital older $12.99 417 88% 13k $163k (exactly $162,505) Team Jolly Roger
Chip ‘n Clawz vs. The Brainioids $29.99 90 83% 2.7k $81k (exactly $80,973) Snapshot Games Inc.
HELLFRONT: HONEYMOON older $9.99 64 75% 1.9k $19k (exactly $19,181) SkyGoblin
Jelly Troops $8.99 22 90% 660 $5.9k (exactly $5,933) Nukenin
Lornsword Winter Chronicle older $6.99 28 60% 840 $5.9k (exactly $5,872) Tower Five
Marshals of Yore $4.99 30 90% 900 $4.5k (exactly $4,491) One Man Horde
Soccer With Satan older $9.99 11 100% 330 $3.3k (exactly $3,297) Studio Gauntlet
Insectum - Epic Battles of Bugs $9.99 10 100% 300 $3.0k (exactly $2,997) DevilishGames, Famosa by Giochi Preziosi
Skeleton Scramble Deluxe older $2.99 29 96% 870 $2.6k (exactly $2,601) Chris Turd Boomerang Armstrong
Gangs Of Asia · EA $9.99 6 100% 180 $1.8k (exactly $1,798) Moonpunch
Rough Rivals $5.99 10 100% 300 $1.8k (exactly $1,797) Constantin Roussel
ATAK - Angry Tusslin' Awesome Knights $14.99 3 66% 90 $1.3k (exactly $1,349) 3Z
Finger Soccer · EA $5.99 3 100% 90 $539 (exactly $539) Hard Shark Games
Blitz Society $4.99 2 100% 60 $299 (exactly $299) Ryan Evans
Gateball - Memuro Championship $1.99 1 100% 30 $60 (exactly $60) Capial Game Studio

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