Games › Real-Time › Real-Time + Base Building
Should I ship a Base Building Real-Time game?
Real-Time + Base Building
Of 21 developers who shipped a Base Building Real-Time game 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.. 33 more are announced, ×3.7 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $37k, ×59 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $20k; 1 in 20 cleared $800k, ×1281 the market median. Revenue is down 50% on the market; 33 games are announced against 9 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $20k (exactly $19,787) |
|---|---|
| Median | $37k (exactly $36,826) |
| Top 25% | $231k (exactly $230,702) |
| Top 5% | $804k (exactly $804,332) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 21 |
| Released games | 101 |
| Announced | 33 |
| Effort | 6 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $14.99 |
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 50% on the market, supply 25% fewer developers than the period before.
Free games: 8%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Real-Time
- effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
- Base Building
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- Real-Time, Base Building; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Strategy, Building, City Builder
- Price point
- $14.99 typical · top 25% priced $29.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Difficult, Realistic
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $29.99 or above; the middle game at $14.99.
The top 10 games average 82% positive over 13,416 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $20k. 3 in 10 of the 12 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 33 games are announced against 9 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.7 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Real-Time with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Character CustomizationStrong odds
- + RogueliteFair
- + BuildingPoor odds
- + HistoricalPoor odds
- + WarPoor odds
- + WargamePoor odds
- + PhysicsPoor odds
- + Tower DefensePoor odds
- + Action RTSPoor odds
- + StrategyPoor odds
- + RTSPoor odds
- + SimulationPoor odds
Comparable games
Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition 2019 · $167M 
Age of Empires II (Retired) 2013 · $51M 
Company of Heroes 2 2013 · $41M 
Tempest Rising 2025 · $12M 
Sins of a Solar Empire II 2024 · $11M | 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)) |
| | Tempest Rising | $39.99 | 9,811 87% | 294k | $12M (exactly $11,770,257) | Slipgate Ironworks™ | |
| | Sins of a Solar Empire II | older | $49.99 | 7,147 83% | 214k | $11M (exactly $10,718,356) | Ironclad Games Corporation, Stardock En… (Ironclad Games Corporation, Stardock Entertainment) |
 | Iron Harvest | older | $29.99 | 11,682 74% | 350k | $11M (exactly $10,510,295) | KING Art |
 | Age of Empires: Definitive Edition | older | $19.99 | 14,315 84% | 429k | $8.6M (exactly $8,584,706) | World's Edge, Forgotten Empires, Tantal… (World's Edge, Forgotten Empires, Tantalus) |
 | Rise of Nations: Extended Edition | older | $19.99 | 13,358 94% | 401k | $8.0M (exactly $8,010,793) | SkyBox Labs, Big Huge Games |
 | Endzone - A World Apart | older | $24.99 | 8,311 76% | 249k | $6.2M (exactly $6,230,757) | Gentlymad Studios |
 | Ancestors Legacy | older | $34.99 | 5,794 80% | 174k | $6.1M (exactly $6,081,962) | Destructive Creations |
 | Endzone 2 | $29.99 | 894 65% | 27k | $804k (exactly $804,332) | Gentlymad Studios | |
 | Builders of Greece | $19.99 | 537 54% | 16k | $322k (exactly $322,039) | BLUM Entertainment, Strategy Labs | |
 | Castle Craft | $19.99 | 480 82% | 14k | $288k (exactly $287,856) | Twin Earth | |
 | Builders of Egypt | $19.99 | 461 31% | 14k | $276k (exactly $276,462) | Strategy Labs | |
 | Mini Settlers | $12.99 | 592 85% | 18k | $231k (exactly $230,702) | Knight Owl Games | |
 | Outside the Blocks | $14.99 | 192 87% | 5.8k | $86k (exactly $86,342) | Michał Kubas | |
 | Touch Type Tale - Strategic Typing | $19.99 | 107 89% | 3.2k | $64k (exactly $64,168) | Pumpernickel Studio | |
 | Final Outpost: Definitive Edition | $9.99 | 208 76% | 6.2k | $62k (exactly $62,338) | Exabyte Games | |
 | Moduwar | · EA | $14.99 | 134 88% | 4.0k | $60k (exactly $60,260) | Biohex Studios |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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