Do I ship it?

Games › Action RTS › Action RTS + Shooter

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Shooter Action RTS?

Action RTS + Shooter

Of 26 developers who shipped a Shooter 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.. 56 more are announced, ×2.7 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $630, ×0.4 the market's $1.5k for a 7 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $120. 56 games are announced against 21 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.7 per shipper, while revenue is up 1610% on the market.

Deciding numbers: median 0.4 times the market baseline, revenue up 1610% on the market, 56 announced, ×2.7 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Action RTS + Shooter
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 26
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $3.0k → $539 → $599 → $150 → $4.0k (still earning) → $772k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Action RTS + Shooter: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 26
Bottom 30% $120 (exactly $120)
Median $628 (exactly $628)
Top 25% $68k (exactly $67,766)
Top 5% $5.8M (exactly $5,822,144)
Developers, 2 yr 26
Released games 83
Announced 56
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 1610% on the market, supply 320% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 13%, 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
Shooter
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, Shooter; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Strategy, Tactical, Arcade
Price point
$9.99 typical · top 25% priced $39.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Isometric, Cinematic, 3D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $39.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.

The top 10 games average 82% positive over 30,480 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $120, median $630, 1 in 4 over $67k, 1 in 20 over $5.8M.

3 in 10 developers made under $120. All of the 8 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 56 games are announced against 21 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.7 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. + 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

STAR WARS Zero Company™ 2026 · $29M Xenonauts 2 2026 · $5.8M Total Conflict: Resistance 2023 · EA · $4.6M Rising Front 2026 · $1.8M Executive Assault 2 2023 · $1.2M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
STAR WARS Zero Company™ $49.99 19,521 82% 586k $29M (exactly $29,275,644) Bit Reactor
Xenonauts 2 $39.99 4,853 81% 146k $5.8M (exactly $5,822,144) Goldhawk Interactive
Total Conflict: Resistance · EA older $29.99 5,089 74% 153k $4.6M (exactly $4,578,573) Thunder Devs.
Rising Front $14.99 4,057 88% 122k $1.8M (exactly $1,824,433) Sandstorm Studios Inc.
Executive Assault 2 older $24.99 1,604 82% 48k $1.2M (exactly $1,202,519) Hesketh Studios Ltd
Warhounds $34.99 735 71% 22k $772k (exactly $771,530) Everplay DMCC
Home Wars older $9.99 1,141 78% 34k $342k (exactly $341,958) Insane Dreamers
Machine Mind $19.99 567 71% 17k $340k (exactly $340,030) Chudo-Yudo Games
Cosmic Trip older $19.99 409 87% 12k $245k (exactly $245,277) Funktronic Labs
Attack on Toys · EA older $6.99 1,158 93% 35k $243k (exactly $242,833) N7T-GAMES
7 Days Blood Moons · EA $9.99 418 40% 13k $125k (exactly $125,275) iLLOGIKA
Artificial Extinction 2 $19.99 113 77% 3.4k $68k (exactly $67,766) 100Hr Games Inc
Antivirus Girl $7.99 169 88% 5.1k $41k (exactly $40,509) Chowbie
Deadrock Salvation $9.99 38 86% 1.1k $11k (exactly $11,389) Ghost Machine
BATTLERCORE: TEAM BLAZER $14.99 9 66% 270 $4.0k (exactly $4,047) SCARLET-G

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