Do I ship it?

Games › Action RTS › Action RTS + Tower Defense

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Tower Defense Action RTS?

Action RTS + Tower Defense

Of 123 developers who shipped a Tower Defense 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.. 173 more are announced, ×2.4 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $1.3k, ×0.9 the market's $1.5k for a 7 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $240; 1 in 20 cleared $340k, ×227 the market median. Revenue is down 25% on the market; 173 games are announced against 72 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 0.9 times the market baseline, revenue down 25% on the market, 173 announced, ×2.4 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Action RTS + Tower Defense
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 123
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $898 → $899 → $719 → $3.0k → $1.3k → $299 → $1.9k (still earning) → $1.7k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Action RTS + Tower Defense: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 123
Bottom 30% $239 (exactly $239)
Median $1.3k (exactly $1,348)
Top 25% $11k (exactly $10,793)
Top 5% $340k (exactly $340,030)
Developers, 2 yr 123
Released games 271
Announced 173
Effort 7 / 10
AI-buildability Low
Typical price $7.99

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 25% on the market, supply 40% 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
Tower Defense
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high 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, Tower Defense; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Strategy, Base Building, RTS
Price point
$7.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Isometric
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.

The top 10 games average 87% positive over 48,560 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $240, median $1.3k, 1 in 4 over $10k, 1 in 20 over $340k.

3 in 10 developers made under $240. 8 in 10 of the 58 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 173 games are announced against 72 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.4 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

Diplomacy is Not an Option 2024 · $9.8M Thronefall 2024 · $8.9M Age of Darkness: Final Stand 2025 · $8.0M EverSiege: Untold Ages 2026 · $1.1M Kingdom Eighties 2023 · $1.1M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Diplomacy is Not an Option $29.99 10,904 85% 327k $9.8M (exactly $9,810,329) Door 407
Thronefall $12.99 22,966 96% 689k $8.9M (exactly $8,949,850) GrizzlyGames, Mythwright
Age of Darkness: Final Stand $27.99 9,486 74% 285k $8.0M (exactly $7,965,394) PlaySide
EverSiege: Untold Ages $19.99 1,906 68% 57k $1.1M (exactly $1,143,028) Tindalos Interactive
Kingdom Eighties older $11.99 3,001 75% 90k $1.1M (exactly $1,079,460) Fury Studios
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
Touhou Monster TD ~ 幻想乡妖怪塔防 older $18.99 948 90% 28k $540k (exactly $540,076) MyACG Studio
Bee Island older $9.99 1,612 86% 48k $483k (exactly $483,116) Lemma Arts
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
TDS - Tower Defense Strategy $17.99 315 81% 9.5k $170k (exactly $170,005) Blockage
Rift Riff $12.99 367 94% 11k $143k (exactly $143,020) Adriaan de Jongh, Sim Kaart, Matthijs K… (Adriaan de Jongh, Sim Kaart, Matthijs Koster, Franz LaZerte, Professional Panda)

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