Games › Action RTS › Action RTS + Resource Management
Should I ship a Resource Management Action RTS?
Action RTS + Resource Management
Of 68 developers who shipped a Resource Management 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.. 161 more are announced, ×4.6 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 7 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $2.3k, ×1.6 the market's $1.5k for a 7 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $540; 1 in 20 cleared $540k, ×366 the market median. Revenue is up 100% on the market; 161 games are announced against 35 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $539 (exactly $539) |
|---|---|
| Median | $2.3k (exactly $2,338) |
| Top 25% | $19k (exactly $19,190) |
| Top 5% | $549k (exactly $548,634) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 68 |
| Released games | 157 |
| Announced | 161 |
| 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 up 100% on the market, supply as many developers as the period before.
Free games: 11%, 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
- Resource Management
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 7 / 10 · big single-player or serious online
- Systems
- Action RTS, Resource Management; 9 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Strategy, Base Building, RTS
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Isometric
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 67% positive over 49,751 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $540. 8 in 10 of the 36 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 161 games are announced against 35 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.6 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
- + Real-TimePoor odds
- + HistoricalPoor odds
- + Online Co-OpPoor odds
- + SandboxPoor odds
- + Procedural GenerationPoor odds
- + Grand StrategyPoor odds
- + 4XPoor odds
Comparable games
Age of Empires IV: Anniversary Edition 2021 · $87M 
Broken Arrow 2025 · $39M 
Age of Mythology: Retold 2024 · $19M 
Diplomacy is Not an Option 2024 · $9.8M 
Age of Darkness: Final Stand 2025 · $8.0M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Age of Empires IV: Anniversary Edition | older | $39.99 | 72,275 85% | 2.2M | $87M (exactly $86,708,318) | World's Edge, Relic Entertainment, Forg… (World's Edge, Relic Entertainment, Forgotten Empires, Climax Studios) |
| | Broken Arrow | $49.99 | 25,924 55% | 778k | $39M (exactly $38,878,223) | Steel Balalaika | |
| | Age of Mythology: Retold | older | $29.99 | 20,943 90% | 628k | $19M (exactly $18,842,417) | World's Edge, Forgotten Empires, Tantal… (World's Edge, Forgotten Empires, Tantalus Media, CaptureAge, Virtuos Games) |
| | Diplomacy is Not an Option | $29.99 | 10,904 85% | 327k | $9.8M (exactly $9,810,329) | Door 407 | |
| | Age of Darkness: Final Stand | $27.99 | 9,486 74% | 285k | $8.0M (exactly $7,965,394) | PlaySide | |
 | Cossacks 3 | older | $19.99 | 12,406 82% | 372k | $7.4M (exactly $7,439,878) | GSC Game World |
 | Gord | older | $49.99 | 809 53% | 24k | $1.2M (exactly $1,213,257) | Covenant.dev |
 | The Lost Village | older | $11.99 | 2,743 70% | 82k | $987k (exactly $986,657) | FunYoo Games |
 | From Glory To Goo | · EA older | $11.99 | 1,794 96% | 54k | $645k (exactly $645,302) | Stratagem Blue |
 | Tower Factory | · EA | $14.99 | 1,220 89% | 37k | $549k (exactly $548,634) | Gius Caminiti |
 | Darfall | $24.99 | 491 71% | 15k | $368k (exactly $368,103) | SquareNite | |
 | Calyx | · EA | $24.99 | 471 88% | 14k | $353k (exactly $353,109) | Studio 568 |
 | Machine Mind | $19.99 | 567 71% | 17k | $340k (exactly $340,030) | Chudo-Yudo Games | |
 | Here Comes The Swarm | · EA | $19.99 | 358 84% | 11k | $215k (exactly $214,693) | CableHook Games |
 | Repterra | $19.99 | 122 90% | 3.7k | $73k (exactly $73,163) | Chute Apps | |
 | Final Outpost: Definitive Edition | $9.99 | 208 76% | 6.2k | $62k (exactly $62,338) | Exabyte Games |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
Your address goes to Buttondown, which sends the letter, and nowhere else. Every issue has an unsubscribe link. No tracking beyond the open count Buttondown keeps.