Should I ship an Adventure RTS?
RTS + Adventure
Of 91 developers who shipped an Adventure 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.. 167 more are announced, ×3.7 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 7 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $750, ×0.5 the market's $1.5k for a 7 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $90. 167 games are announced against 45 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.7 per shipper, while revenue is up 10% on the market.
| Bottom 30% | $90 (exactly $90) |
|---|---|
| Median | $748 (exactly $748) |
| Top 25% | $5.0k (exactly $5,032) |
| Top 5% | $249k (exactly $249,444) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 91 |
| Released games | 415 |
| Announced | 167 |
| 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 up 10% on the market, supply as many developers as the period before.
Free games: 14%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is low: the lowest rating among its tags.
What it takes
- Effort
- 7 / 10 · big single-player or serious online
- Systems
- RTS, Adventure; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Strategy, RPG, Simulation
- Price point
- $8.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.98 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.98 or above; the middle game at $8.99.
The top 10 games average 81% positive over 7,252 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $90. 9 in 10 of the 67 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 167 games are announced against 45 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.7 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
RTS with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + RomeFair
- + Outbreak SimFair
- + HorrorFair
- + NavalFair
- + TabletopFair
- + SportsLong shot
- + PuzzleLong shot
- + World War IIPoor odds
- + Real-Time with PausePoor odds
- + Open WorldPoor odds
- + Colony SimPoor odds
- + HistoricalPoor odds
Comparable games
| Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition | older | $34.99 | 158,931 94% | 4.8M | $167M (exactly $166,829,871) | World's Edge, Forgotten Empires, Captur… (World's Edge, Forgotten Empires, CaptureAge, Tantalus Media, Wicked Witch, Feral Interactive) |
| | Age of Empires II (Retired) | older | $19.99 | 84,818 95% | 2.5M | $51M (exactly $50,865,355) | Skybox Labs, Hidden Path Entertainment,… (Skybox Labs, Hidden Path Entertainment, Ensemble Studios, Forgotten Empires) |
| | 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)) |
| | Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun | older | $39.99 | 30,845 96% | 925k | $37M (exactly $37,004,746) | Mimimi Games |
| | Men of War: Assault Squad 2 | older | $29.99 | 35,744 91% | 1.1M | $32M (exactly $32,158,877) | Digitalmindsoft |
| | Age of Mythology: Extended Edition | older | $29.99 | 31,869 93% | 956k | $29M (exactly $28,672,539) | SkyBox Labs, Ensemble Studios, Forgotte… (SkyBox Labs, Ensemble Studios, Forgotten Empires) |
| | Wandering Sword | older | $24.99 | 37,034 94% | 1.1M | $28M (exactly $27,764,390) | The Swordman Studio |
| | STAR WARS™ Empire at War - Gold Pack | older | $19.99 | 36,153 97% | 1.1M | $22M (exactly $21,680,954) | Petroglyph |
| | Total War: ATTILA | older | $19.99 | 26,918 82% | 808k | $16M (exactly $16,142,725) | CREATIVE ASSEMBLY, Feral Interactive |
| | Stronghold Crusader 2 | older | $39.99 | 12,619 73% | 379k | $15M (exactly $15,139,014) | Firefly Studios |
| | Age of Reforging: The Freelands | $29.99 | 2,291 71% | 69k | $2.1M (exactly $2,061,213) | PersonaeGame Studio | |
| | Demon Lord: Just a Block | $12.99 | 2,065 96% | 62k | $805k (exactly $804,730) | YuWave | |
| | Airborne Empire | $29.99 | 852 86% | 26k | $767k (exactly $766,544) | The Wandering Band LLC | |
| | IDUN - Frontline Survival | $14.99 | 685 77% | 21k | $308k (exactly $308,044) | IDUN Interactive | |
| | Rise of Piracy | · EA | $15.99 | 520 77% | 16k | $249k (exactly $249,444) | IrishJohnGames |
| | Wartorn | $34.99 | 130 73% | 3.9k | $136k (exactly $136,461) | Stray Kite Studios | |
| | Moon Corona | · EA | $13.99 | 210 82% | 6.3k | $88k (exactly $88,137) | 不倒龙工作室, Budaolong Studio |
| | Dust Raiders | $15.99 | 160 64% | 4.8k | $77k (exactly $76,752) | Vixa Games | |
| | Kingdom Ascension | $11.99 | 200 82% | 6.0k | $72k (exactly $71,940) | RainRingStudio | |
| | Lewd Dungeon Manager 🔞 | $14.99 | 139 66% | 4.2k | $63k (exactly $62,508) | Lewd Star |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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