Do I ship it?

Games › Action RTS › Action RTS + Magic

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Magic Action RTS?

Action RTS + Magic

Of 34 developers who shipped a Magic 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.. 66 more are announced, ×4.4 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $900, ×0.6 the market's $1.5k for a 7 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $150. 66 games are announced against 15 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.4 per shipper, while revenue is up 540% on the market.

Deciding numbers: median 0.6 times the market baseline, revenue up 540% on the market, 66 announced, ×4.4 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Action RTS + Magic
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 34
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $479 → $599 → $897 → $150 → $900 → $659 (still earning) → $13k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Action RTS + Magic: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 34
Bottom 30% $150 (exactly $150)
Median $897 (exactly $897)
Top 25% $2.6k (exactly $2,637)
Top 5% $68k (exactly $68,075)
Developers, 2 yr 34
Released games 75
Announced 66
Effort 7 / 10
AI-buildability Low
Typical price $4.99

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 540% on the market, supply 20% fewer developers than the period before.

Free games: 15%, 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
Magic
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; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Strategy, RTS, Base Building
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $17.99 or above
Art
5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Top-Down
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $17.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 64% positive over 611 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 $900, 1 in 4 over $2.6k, 1 in 20 over $68k.

3 in 10 developers made under $150. Nearly all of the 23 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 66 games are announced against 15 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.4 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Action RTS with a different setting or mood, 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

Gord 2023 · $1.2M SpellForce 3 Fallen God 2020 · $801k Godsworn 2024 · EA · $724k WARCANA 2024 · $226k Vade Retro : Exorcist 2022 · $193k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Gord older $49.99 809 53% 24k $1.2M (exactly $1,213,257) Covenant.dev
SpellForce 3 Fallen God older $19.99 1,335 86% 40k $801k (exactly $800,599) Grimlore Games
Godsworn · EA older $29.99 805 93% 24k $724k (exactly $724,258) Thunderoak Interactive
WARCANA older $16.99 443 62% 13k $226k (exactly $225,797) 1000 Orks
Vade Retro : Exorcist older $6.99 921 70% 28k $193k (exactly $193,134) Forceight
Toy Tactics $24.99 121 91% 3.6k $91k (exactly $90,714) Kraken Empire
TrinityS older $14.99 182 69% 5.5k $82k (exactly $81,845) Indie-us Games
永生之庭 $7.99 284 48% 8.5k $68k (exactly $68,075) IMaiIna
Hexworld · EA older $14.99 89 78% 2.7k $40k (exactly $40,023) Volcanic Giraffe
Gods Against Machines older $11.99 91 84% 2.7k $33k (exactly $32,733) Silver Eye Studios
Stick Infinite Kingdom $9.99 55 65% 1.7k $16k (exactly $16,484) Arckon Arts
Flow Of War $12.99 40 85% 1.2k $16k (exactly $15,588) Rongcon Games
Warena $9.99 42 52% 1.3k $13k (exactly $12,587) Part Time Monkey
Spires of Morosith: Gossamer Sundered $14.99 17 76% 510 $7.6k (exactly $7,645) Dead Yeti Clown Car
Arcane Wilds · EA $17.99 13 76% 390 $7.0k (exactly $7,016) Avancadia
Warsong · EA $14.99 10 70% 300 $4.5k (exactly $4,497) Windforce
Notice Me Leena-senpai! $7.99 11 81% 330 $2.6k (exactly $2,637) Yanako RPGs, GameDevTosh
Ant Guardians · EA $3.99 18 83% 540 $2.2k (exactly $2,155) NotThisTime

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