Do I ship it?

Games › Real Time Tactics › Real Time Tactics + Bullet Hell

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Bullet Hell Real Time Tactics?

Real Time Tactics + Bullet Hell

Of 36 developers who shipped a Bullet Hell Real Time Tactics 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.. 37 more are announced, ×2.2 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $630, level with the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $150; 1 in 20 cleared $70k, ×113 the market median. Revenue is up 20% on the market; 37 games are announced against 17 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.0 times the market baseline, revenue up 20% on the market, 37 announced, ×2.2 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Real Time Tactics + Bullet Hell
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 36
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $599 → $570 → $239 → $748 → $208 → $987 (still earning) → $479 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Real Time Tactics + Bullet Hell: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 36
Bottom 30% $150 (exactly $150)
Median $629 (exactly $629)
Top 25% $2.3k (exactly $2,317)
Top 5% $71k (exactly $70,729)
Developers, 2 yr 36
Released games 80
Announced 37
Effort 6 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $4.99

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 20% on the market, supply 10% fewer developers than the period before.

Free games: 13%, 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 medium: the lowest rating among its tags.

Real Time Tactics
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
Bullet Hell
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
Systems
Real Time Tactics, Bullet Hell; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Strategy, Action, RPG
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $15.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Top-Down
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $15.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 85% positive over 1,286 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $150, median $630, 1 in 4 over $2.3k, 1 in 20 over $70k.

3 in 10 developers made under $150. Nearly all of the 21 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 37 games are announced against 17 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.2 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + DragonsStrong odds17 devs · median $6.6k · 19 announced
  2. + Outbreak SimFair12 devs · median $1.8k · 14 announced
  3. + HackingFair11 devs · median $987 · 11 announced
  4. + World War IIPoor odds24 devs · median $67k · 35 announced
  5. + Cold WarPoor odds9 devs · median $19k · 16 announced
  6. + HistoricalPoor odds88 devs · median $19k · 154 announced
  7. + Real-Time with PausePoor odds19 devs · median $16k · 31 announced
  8. + Real-TimePoor odds16 devs · median $16k · 26 announced
  9. + MechsPoor odds16 devs · median $13k · 32 announced
  10. + Vehicular CombatPoor odds20 devs · median $9.6k · 50 announced
  11. + God GamePoor odds19 devs · median $7.8k · 32 announced
  12. + Open WorldPoor odds29 devs · median $7.2k · 111 announced

All 176 pairs on the Real Time Tactics page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Mechs V Kaijus - Tower Defense 2022 · $199k Swordship 2022 · $125k Touhou Spell Carnival 2025 · $73k The Gate Must Stand 2026 · $71k Dice People 2025 · $64k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Mechs V Kaijus - Tower Defense older $12.99 511 83% 15k $199k (exactly $199,137) Doble Punch Games
Swordship older $19.99 209 85% 6.3k $125k (exactly $125,337) Digital Kingdom
Touhou Spell Carnival $49.99 49 77% 1.5k $73k (exactly $73,485) Idea Factory, Compile Heart, STING
The Gate Must Stand $9.99 236 78% 7.1k $71k (exactly $70,729) Senmu Studio
Dice People $2.99 719 90% 22k $64k (exactly $64,494) Mateusk2m, Manodeix
Chess Survivors older $4.99 155 83% 4.7k $23k (exactly $23,204) Aarimous
Bees vs Zombees $7.99 89 92% 2.7k $21k (exactly $21,333) DeadPixel
DeTechtive 2112 $10.99 60 46% 1.8k $20k (exactly $19,782) M11 Studio
Bullet: Surge $15.99 18 94% 540 $8.6k (exactly $8,635) Cerbere Games
Devader older $7.99 32 93% 960 $7.7k (exactly $7,670) Falkenbrew
Rogue Citadel $9.99 15 86% 450 $4.5k (exactly $4,496) MalumGames
LYMBUS $9.99 11 90% 330 $3.3k (exactly $3,297) Happy Accident Studios
Small Hero $0.99 78 85% 2.3k $2.3k (exactly $2,317) Small Hero
Castle And Cursor $6.99 11 63% 330 $2.3k (exactly $2,307) Elite Gorgon Games

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