Do I ship it?

Games › Action RTS › Action RTS + Space

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Space Action RTS?

Action RTS + Space

Of 26 developers who shipped a Space 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.. 68 more are announced, ×4.5 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $1.5k, level with the market's $1.5k for a 7 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $300; 1 in 20 cleared $350k, ×236 the market median. Revenue is down 85% on the market; 68 games are announced against 15 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.0 times the market baseline, revenue down 85% on the market, 68 announced, ×4.5 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Action RTS + Space
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: $898 → $83k → $1.8k → $5.5k → $1.5k → $6.0k → $2.5k (still earning) → $539 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Action RTS + Space: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 26
Bottom 30% $300 (exactly $300)
Median $1.5k (exactly $1,468)
Top 25% $11k (exactly $11,242)
Top 5% $353k (exactly $353,109)
Developers, 2 yr 26
Released games 86
Announced 68
Effort 7 / 10
AI-buildability Low
Typical price $8.99

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 85% on the market, supply 35% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 10%, 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
Space
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; 9 in 10 of the top 25% also carry RTS, Strategy, Real Time Tactics
Price point
$8.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Top-Down
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $8.99.

The top 10 games average 83% positive over 2,720 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 $1.5k, 1 in 4 over $11k, 1 in 20 over $350k.

3 in 10 developers made under $300. 9 in 10 of the 16 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 68 games are announced against 15 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.5 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

ERA ONE 2025 · EA · $1.4M Executive Assault 2 2023 · $1.2M Calyx 2026 · EA · $353k Space Reign 2026 · $266k Cosmic Trip 2017 · $245k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
ERA ONE · EA $29.99 1,575 86% 47k $1.4M (exactly $1,417,028) Team Complex LTD
Executive Assault 2 older $24.99 1,604 82% 48k $1.2M (exactly $1,202,519) Hesketh Studios Ltd
Calyx · EA $24.99 471 88% 14k $353k (exactly $353,109) Studio 568
Space Reign $19.99 444 72% 13k $266k (exactly $266,267) Propulsive Games
Cosmic Trip older $19.99 409 87% 12k $245k (exactly $245,277) Funktronic Labs
Worbital older $12.99 417 88% 13k $163k (exactly $162,505) Team Jolly Roger
Five Nations older $19.99 251 81% 7.5k $151k (exactly $150,525) SilverForge
Iron Marines Invasion older $14.99 334 66% 10k $150k (exactly $150,200) Ironhide Game Studio
VOIDCRISIS older $29.99 122 54% 3.7k $110k (exactly $109,763) HEXADRIVE Inc.
Swarm Queen older $7.49 384 94% 12k $86k (exactly $86,285) Helmi Bastami (Flyborg.net)
Stardust Exile $14.99 44 70% 1.3k $20k (exactly $19,787) Apseren
WarOS · EA $19.99 29 72% 870 $17k (exactly $17,391) The7 Studio
Echoes of the Architects $9.99 46 80% 1.4k $14k (exactly $13,786) GFX47
Fleetbreakers · EA $14.99 25 96% 750 $11k (exactly $11,242) Last Keep
Periphery Online $4.99 50 72% 1.5k $7.5k (exactly $7,485) Aleksandr Nagaev
Grimstar: Crystals are the New Oil! $12.99 16 68% 480 $6.2k (exactly $6,235) SvenRahn Games
Space Menace 2 $9.99 20 75% 600 $6.0k (exactly $5,994) Only4Gamers

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