Do I ship it?

Games › Action RTS › Action RTS + Sandbox

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Sandbox Action RTS?

Action RTS + Sandbox

Of 30 developers who shipped a Sandbox 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.. 50 more are announced, ×3.6 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $13k, ×8.4 the market's $1.5k for a 7 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $600; 1 in 20 cleared $1.4M, ×946 the market median. Revenue is down 45% on the market; 50 games are announced against 14 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 8.4 times the market baseline, revenue down 45% on the market, 50 announced, ×3.6 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Action RTS + Sandbox
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 30
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $12k → $899 → $645k → $599 → $33k → $100k → $68k (still earning) → $2.3k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Action RTS + Sandbox: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 30
Bottom 30% $599 (exactly $599)
Median $13k (exactly $12,587)
Top 25% $110k (exactly $110,372)
Top 5% $1.4M (exactly $1,417,028)
Developers, 2 yr 30
Released games 82
Announced 50
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 45% on the market, supply 20% fewer developers than the period before.

Free games: 11%, 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
Sandbox
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 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, Sandbox; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Strategy, RTS, Base Building
Price point
$14.99 typical · top 25% priced $39.99 or above
Art
8 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $39.99 or above; the middle game at $14.99.

The top 10 games average 84% positive over 9,559 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $600, median $13k, 1 in 4 over $110k, 1 in 20 over $1.4M.

3 in 10 developers made under $600. 7 in 10 of the 20 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 50 games are announced against 14 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.6 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. + Procedural GenerationPoor odds22 devs · median $11k · 51 announced
  10. + Grand StrategyPoor odds25 devs · median $7.5k · 41 announced
  11. + 4XPoor odds10 devs · median $7.2k · 23 announced
  12. + CraftingPoor odds19 devs · median $7.2k · 35 announced

All 89 pairs on the Action RTS page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

下一站江湖Ⅱ 2024 · $6.4M Sudden Strike 4 2017 · $3.7M Rising Front 2026 · $1.8M ERA ONE 2025 · EA · $1.4M Kingdom Eighties 2023 · $1.1M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
下一站江湖Ⅱ older $24.99 8,507 72% 255k $6.4M (exactly $6,377,698) 白玉京工作室
Sudden Strike 4 older $19.99 6,249 78% 187k $3.7M (exactly $3,747,525) Kite Games
Rising Front $14.99 4,057 88% 122k $1.8M (exactly $1,824,433) Sandstorm Studios Inc.
ERA ONE · EA $29.99 1,575 86% 47k $1.4M (exactly $1,417,028) Team Complex LTD
Kingdom Eighties older $11.99 3,001 75% 90k $1.1M (exactly $1,079,460) Fury Studios
Medieval Kingdom Wars older $14.99 2,233 76% 67k $1.0M (exactly $1,004,180) Reverie World Studios
The Lost Village older $11.99 2,743 70% 82k $987k (exactly $986,657) FunYoo Games
Sudden Strike 5 $49.99 641 75% 19k $961k (exactly $961,308) Kite Games
From Glory To Goo · EA older $11.99 1,794 96% 54k $645k (exactly $645,302) Stratagem Blue
9-Bit Armies: A Bit Too Far older $19.99 944 80% 28k $566k (exactly $566,117) Petroglyph
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
Machine Mind $19.99 567 71% 17k $340k (exactly $340,030) Chudo-Yudo Games
Rise of Piracy · EA $15.99 520 77% 16k $249k (exactly $249,444) IrishJohnGames
Victory at Sea Atlantic - World War II Naval Warfare $39.99 92 60% 2.8k $110k (exactly $110,372) Evil Twin Artworks
Welcome Back, Commander $14.99 230 80% 6.9k $103k (exactly $103,431) S.C. 16 BIT NIGHTS S.R.L.
Knights of the Crusades $19.99 166 69% 5.0k $100k (exactly $99,550) Reverie World Studios

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