Games › Action RTS › Action RTS + Real-Time
Should I ship a Real-Time Action RTS?
Action RTS + Real-Time
Only 12 developers shipped a Real-Time 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, Tempest Rising, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 18 more are announced, ×2.6 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 7 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $31k, ×21 the market's $1.5k for a 7 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $12k; 1 in 20 cleared $11M, ×7857 the market median. Revenue is down 65% on the market; 18 games are announced against 7 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $11k (exactly $11,242) |
|---|---|
| Median | $31k (exactly $31,184) |
| Top 25% | $62k (exactly $62,338) |
| Top 5% | $12M (exactly $11,770,257) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 12 |
| Released games | 30 |
| Announced | 18 |
| Effort | 7 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Low |
| Typical price | $14.99 |
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 65% on the market, supply 40% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 3%, excluded from money figures.
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
- Real-Time
- effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 7 / 10 · big single-player or serious online
- Systems
- Action RTS, Real-Time
- Price point
- $14.99 typical
Why players buy here
The top 10 games average 87% positive over 11,004 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $12k. 4 in 10 of the 5 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 18 games are announced against 7 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.6 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Action RTS with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Auto BattlerFair
- + FPSLong shot
- + PuzzleLong shot
- + Turn-Based StrategyPoor odds
- + Turn-Based TacticsPoor odds
- + HistoricalPoor odds
- + Online Co-OpPoor odds
- + SandboxPoor odds
- + Procedural GenerationPoor odds
- + Grand StrategyPoor odds
- + 4XPoor odds
- + CraftingPoor odds
Comparable games
Tempest Rising 2025 · $12M 
Sudden Strike 4 2017 · $3.7M 
Gord 2023 · $1.2M 
Executive Assault 2 2023 · $1.2M 
Task Force Admiral - Vol.1: American Carrier Battles 2026 · EA · $759k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Tempest Rising | $39.99 | 9,811 87% | 294k | $12M (exactly $11,770,257) | Slipgate Ironworks™ | |
| | Sudden Strike 4 | older | $19.99 | 6,249 78% | 187k | $3.7M (exactly $3,747,525) | Kite Games |
| | Gord | older | $49.99 | 809 53% | 24k | $1.2M (exactly $1,213,257) | Covenant.dev |
| | Executive Assault 2 | older | $24.99 | 1,604 82% | 48k | $1.2M (exactly $1,202,519) | Hesketh Studios Ltd |
| | Task Force Admiral - Vol.1: American Carrier Battles | · EA | $39.99 | 633 87% | 19k | $759k (exactly $759,410) | Drydock Dreams Games |
 | Godsworn | · EA older | $29.99 | 805 93% | 24k | $724k (exactly $724,258) | Thunderoak Interactive |
 | Fire Commander | older | $14.99 | 325 66% | 9.8k | $146k (exactly $146,152) | Atomic Wolf, Pixel Crow Games |
 | TFC: The Fertile Crescent | older | $10.99 | 369 88% | 11k | $122k (exactly $121,659) | Wield Interactive |
 | Final Outpost: Definitive Edition | $9.99 | 208 76% | 6.2k | $62k (exactly $62,338) | Exabyte Games | |
 | Moduwar | · EA | $14.99 | 134 88% | 4.0k | $60k (exactly $60,260) | Biohex Studios |
 | WARSHIFT 2 | $19.99 | 54 70% | 1.6k | $32k (exactly $32,384) | Cyril Megem | |
 | Battlefall: State of Conflict | · EA | $19.99 | 52 63% | 1.6k | $31k (exactly $31,184) | Kyoto Video Game Concern |
 | Stardust Exile | $14.99 | 44 70% | 1.3k | $20k (exactly $19,787) | Apseren | |
 | TFC2: The Fertile Crescent 2 - Collapse of The Bronze Age | · EA | $17.99 | 33 81% | 990 | $18k (exactly $17,810) | Wield Interactive |
 | Fleetbreakers | · EA | $14.99 | 25 96% | 750 | $11k (exactly $11,242) | Last Keep |
 | Warsong | · EA | $14.99 | 10 70% | 300 | $4.5k (exactly $4,497) | Windforce |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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