Games › Real-Time with Pause › Real-Time with Pause + Building
Should I ship a Building Real-Time with Pause game?
Real-Time with Pause + Building
Only 19 developers shipped a Building 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, Flotsam, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 31 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 $34k, ×23 the market's $1.5k for a 7 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $19k; 1 in 20 cleared $3.2M, ×2156 the market median. Revenue is up 40% on the market; 31 games are announced against 13 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $19k (exactly $18,581) |
|---|---|
| Median | $34k (exactly $33,728) |
| Top 25% | $577k (exactly $577,479) |
| Top 5% | $3.2M (exactly $3,229,708) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 19 |
| Released games | 81 |
| Announced | 31 |
| Effort | 7 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Low |
| 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 up 40% on the market, supply 115% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 2%, excluded from money figures.
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
- Building
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 7 / 10 · big single-player or serious online
- Systems
- Real-Time with Pause, Building; all of the top 25% also carry City Builder, Resource Management, Strategy
- Price point
- $14.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Colorful, Atmospheric
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $14.99.
The top 10 games average 79% positive over 11,968 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $19k. 5 in 10 of the 6 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 31 games are announced against 13 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.4 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Real-Time with Pause with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + CombatStrong odds
- + ActionFair
- + Open WorldPoor odds
- + AdventurePoor odds
- + City BuilderPoor odds
- + ExplorationPoor odds
- + Choices MatterPoor odds
- + HistoricalPoor odds
- + MilitaryPoor odds
- + MedievalPoor odds
- + Base BuildingPoor odds
- + SurvivalPoor odds
Comparable games
Cities: Skylines 2015 · $198M 
Frostpunk 2018 · $103M 
They Are Billions 2019 · $42M 
The Universim 2024 · $7.6M 
Cosmoteer: Starship Architect & Commander 2022 · EA · $7.2M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Cities: Skylines | older | $29.99 | 220,465 92% | 6.6M | $198M (exactly $198,352,360) | Colossal Order |
| | Frostpunk | older | $29.99 | 114,376 92% | 3.4M | $103M (exactly $102,904,087) | 11 bit studios |
| | They Are Billions | older | $29.99 | 46,223 85% | 1.4M | $42M (exactly $41,586,833) | Numantian Games |
| | The Universim | older | $29.99 | 8,465 79% | 254k | $7.6M (exactly $7,615,960) | Crytivo |
| | Cosmoteer: Starship Architect & Commander | · EA older | $19.99 | 12,013 94% | 360k | $7.2M (exactly $7,204,196) | Walternate Realities |
 | Tropico 4 | older | $14.99 | 8,211 91% | 246k | $3.7M (exactly $3,692,487) | Haemimont Games |
 | Flotsam | $24.99 | 4,308 80% | 129k | $3.2M (exactly $3,229,708) | Pajama Llama Games | |
 | New Cycle | · EA older | $29.99 | 2,597 78% | 78k | $2.3M (exactly $2,336,521) | Core Engage |
 | Automation Empire | older | $29.99 | 2,584 65% | 78k | $2.3M (exactly $2,324,825) | DOG HOGGLER |
 | Hollywood Animal | · EA | $19.99 | 3,845 73% | 115k | $2.3M (exactly $2,305,846) | Weappy Wholesome |
 | Laysara: Summit Kingdom | $24.99 | 1,421 80% | 43k | $1.1M (exactly $1,065,324) | Quite OK Games | |
 | Airborne Empire | $29.99 | 852 86% | 26k | $767k (exactly $766,544) | The Wandering Band LLC | |
 | Let Them Trade | $17.99 | 1,070 84% | 32k | $577k (exactly $577,479) | Spaceflower | |
 | Repterra | $19.99 | 122 90% | 3.7k | $73k (exactly $73,163) | Chute Apps | |
 | Solar Wave | · EA | $17.99 | 80 75% | 2.4k | $43k (exactly $43,176) | SavGus Studio |
 | Space Drilling Station | · EA | $19.99 | 63 90% | 1.9k | $38k (exactly $37,781) | Ayota Games |
 | Deep Among the Swarm | $8.99 | 132 85% | 4.0k | $36k (exactly $35,600) | Pebble Mountain Games | |
 | Trade Conquest | $14.99 | 75 69% | 2.3k | $34k (exactly $33,728) | GrandPaw Games |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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