Do I ship it?

GamesReal-Time with PauseReal-Time with Pause + Adventure

Specimen · observed

Should I ship an Adventure Real-Time with Pause game?

Real-Time with Pause + Adventure

Only 10 developers shipped an Adventure Real-Time with Pause game in the last 2 years, too few for firm odds: the middle one made est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.; the top game by est. revenue, Void War, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 7 more are announced.

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

The middle developer here made $560k, ×375 the market's $1.5k for a 7 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $25k; 1 in 20 cleared $2.1M, ×1462 the market median. Revenue is down 30% on the market; 7 games are announced against 6 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 374.7 times the market baseline, revenue down 30% on the market, 7 announced, ×1.2 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Real-Time with Pause + Adventure
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 10

not enough cohorts to draw

Outcomes for Real-Time with Pause + Adventure: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 10
Bottom 30% $25k (exactly $24,762)
Median $561k (exactly $561,319)
Top 25% $1.5M (exactly $1,470,069)
Top 5% $2.2M (exactly $2,190,704)
Developers, 2 yr 10
Released games 72
Announced 7
Effort 7 / 10
AI-buildability Low
Typical price $19.99

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 30% on the market, supply 50% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 4%, 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.

Real-Time with Pause
effort 7 / 10 · low · effort 7 sits in the low band
Adventure
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 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
Real-Time with Pause, Adventure
Price point
$19.99 typical
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 10 games average 86% positive over 10,058 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $25k, median $560k, 1 in 4 over $1.4M, 1 in 20 over $2.1M.

3 in 10 developers made under $25k. 7 games are announced against 6 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Real-Time with Pause with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + CombatStrong odds14 devs · median $15k · 12 announced
  2. + ActionFair16 devs · median $103k · 18 announced
  3. + Open WorldPoor odds8 devs · median $767k · 11 announced
  4. + City BuilderPoor odds13 devs · median $215k · 25 announced
  5. + ExplorationPoor odds13 devs · median $215k · 24 announced
  6. + Choices MatterPoor odds9 devs · median $215k · 23 announced
  7. + HistoricalPoor odds14 devs · median $124k · 19 announced
  8. + MilitaryPoor odds11 devs · median $124k · 33 announced
  9. + MedievalPoor odds10 devs · median $87k · 22 announced
  10. + Base BuildingPoor odds20 devs · median $73k · 35 announced
  11. + SurvivalPoor odds20 devs · median $73k · 27 announced
  12. + Colony SimPoor odds11 devs · median $73k · 21 announced

All 41 pairs on the Real-Time with Pause page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Company of Heroes 2 older $19.99 68,909 80% 2.1M $41M (exactly $41,324,727) Relic Entertainment, Feral Interactive… (Relic Entertainment, Feral Interactive (Mac), Feral Interactive (Linux))
Dragon Age: Origins - Ultimate Edition older $29.99 28,721 85% 862k $26M (exactly $25,840,284) BioWare
FTL: Faster Than Light older $9.99 62,763 94% 1.9M $19M (exactly $18,810,071) Subset Games
Pathfinder: Kingmaker — Enhanced Plus Edition older $19.99 28,146 77% 844k $17M (exactly $16,879,156) Owlcat Games
Pillars of Eternity older $29.99 16,990 87% 510k $15M (exactly $15,285,903) Obsidian Entertainment
Mass Effect (2007) older $29.99 14,871 93% 446k $13M (exactly $13,379,439) BioWare
FINAL FANTASY XII THE ZODIAC AGE older $49.99 8,679 88% 260k $13M (exactly $13,015,896) Square Enix
Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition older $19.99 15,395 92% 462k $9.2M (exactly $9,232,382) Beamdog
Tyranny older $29.99 9,877 87% 296k $8.9M (exactly $8,886,337) Obsidian Entertainment
Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire older $19.99 14,659 87% 440k $8.8M (exactly $8,791,002) Obsidian Entertainment
Void War $19.99 3,653 94% 110k $2.2M (exactly $2,190,704) Tundra
GreedFall: The Dying World $49.99 1,027 61% 31k $1.5M (exactly $1,540,192) Spiders
House of Legacy · EA $14.99 3,269 84% 98k $1.5M (exactly $1,470,069) S3 Studio
Airborne Empire $29.99 852 86% 26k $767k (exactly $766,544) The Wandering Band LLC
Banquet for Fools $19.99 936 89% 28k $561k (exactly $561,319) Hannah and Joseph Games
Elengard: Ascension · EA $24.99 116 77% 3.5k $87k (exactly $86,965) Stèphano M. M. G.
Dread Admiral $13.99 59 89% 1.8k $25k (exactly $24,762) Tescrin Games
Geo Mythica $14.99 50 100% 1.5k $22k (exactly $22,485) Guin Entertainment, LLC
Deadlock Station $9.99 55 80% 1.7k $16k (exactly $16,484) Luxorix Games
Reclaim The Sea $11.99 41 75% 1.2k $15k (exactly $14,748) 1LastGame

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