Do I ship it?

Games › Action RTS › Action RTS + Post-apocalyptic

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Post-apocalyptic Action RTS?

Action RTS + Post-apocalyptic

Of 21 developers who shipped a Post-apocalyptic 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.. 46 more are announced, ×3.3 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 $140k, ×95 the market median. Revenue is down 95% on the market; 46 games are announced against 14 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.2 times the market baseline, revenue down 95% on the market, 46 announced, ×3.3 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Action RTS + Post-apocalyptic
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 21
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $599 → $23k → $1.8k → $62k → $150 → $989 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Action RTS + Post-apocalyptic: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 21
Bottom 30% $300 (exactly $300)
Median $1.8k (exactly $1,797)
Top 25% $54k (exactly $53,514)
Top 5% $143k (exactly $143,020)
Developers, 2 yr 21
Released games 44
Announced 46
Effort 7 / 10
AI-buildability Low
Typical price $9.99

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 95% on the market, supply 100% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 9%, 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
Post-apocalyptic
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; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Strategy, RTS, Base Building
Price point
$9.99 typical · top 25% priced $17.99 or above
Art
3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Pixel Graphics, 3D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $17.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.

The top 10 games average 71% positive over 3,463 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 $53k, 1 in 20 over $140k.

3 in 10 developers made under $300. 6 in 10 of the 8 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 46 games are announced against 14 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.3 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

Command & Conquer 3 Tiberium Wars™ 2009 · $1.8M EverSiege: Untold Ages 2026 · $1.1M From Glory To Goo 2024 · EA · $645k No Creeps Were Harmed TD 2024 · $281k Rift Riff 2025 · $143k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Command & Conquer 3 Tiberium Wars™ older $6.96 8,777 89% 263k $1.8M (exactly $1,832,638) EA Los Angeles
EverSiege: Untold Ages $19.99 1,906 68% 57k $1.1M (exactly $1,143,028) Tindalos Interactive
From Glory To Goo · EA older $11.99 1,794 96% 54k $645k (exactly $645,302) Stratagem Blue
No Creeps Were Harmed TD older $19.99 468 88% 14k $281k (exactly $280,660) MinMax Games Ltd.
Rift Riff $12.99 367 94% 11k $143k (exactly $143,020) Adriaan de Jongh, Sim Kaart, Matthijs K… (Adriaan de Jongh, Sim Kaart, Matthijs Koster, Franz LaZerte, Professional Panda)
Dying Breed · EA $17.99 218 71% 6.5k $118k (exactly $117,655) Sarnayer
永生之庭 $7.99 284 48% 8.5k $68k (exactly $68,075) IMaiIna
Final Outpost: Definitive Edition $9.99 208 76% 6.2k $62k (exactly $62,338) Exabyte Games
Machinefall $14.99 119 82% 3.6k $54k (exactly $53,514) by Jan Zizka
Age of Undead older $19.99 80 76% 2.4k $48k (exactly $47,976) Insane Dreamers
Red Chaos - The Strict Order · EA $17.99 79 81% 2.4k $43k (exactly $42,636) Squarecut Games
Deep Among the Swarm $8.99 132 85% 4.0k $36k (exactly $35,600) Pebble Mountain Games
Signal Zone $11.99 98 76% 2.9k $35k (exactly $35,251) Norafox Studio
Battlefall: State of Conflict · EA $19.99 52 63% 1.6k $31k (exactly $31,184) Kyoto Video Game Concern

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