Do I ship it?

Games › RTS › RTS + Card Game

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Card Game RTS?

RTS + Card Game

Of 47 developers who shipped a Card Game 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.. 75 more are announced, ×3.0 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $2.6k, ×1.8 the market's $1.5k for a 7 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $270; 1 in 20 cleared $320k, ×214 the market median. Revenue is up 10% on the market; 75 games are announced against 25 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.8 times the market baseline, revenue up 10% on the market, 75 announced, ×3.0 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
RTS + Card Game
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 47
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $179 → $1.3k → $3.6k → $899 → $7.2k → $1.1k (still earning) → $13k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for RTS + Card Game: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 47
Bottom 30% $269 (exactly $269)
Median $2.6k (exactly $2,637)
Top 25% $16k (exactly $16,147)
Top 5% $320k (exactly $320,404)
Developers, 2 yr 47
Released games 125
Announced 75
Effort 7 / 10
AI-buildability Low
Typical price $7.99

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 10% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 30%, 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.

RTS
effort 7 / 10 · low · effort 7 sits in the low band
Card Game
effort 2 / 10 · high · rules engine and card data

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
7 / 10 · big single-player or serious online
Systems
RTS, Card Game; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Strategy, Roguelite, Roguelike
Price point
$7.99 typical · top 25% priced $13.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Pixel Graphics
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $13.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.

The top 10 games average 89% positive over 6,713 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $270, median $2.6k, 1 in 4 over $16k, 1 in 20 over $320k.

3 in 10 developers made under $270. 8 in 10 of the 32 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 75 games are announced against 25 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.0 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

RTS with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + RomeFair12 devs · median $64k · 13 announced
  2. + Outbreak SimFair16 devs · median $2.6k · 14 announced
  3. + HorrorFair20 devs · median $2.4k · 27 announced
  4. + NavalFair15 devs · median $2.4k · 21 announced
  5. + TabletopFair25 devs · median $1.9k · 33 announced
  6. + SportsLong shot19 devs · median $861 · 9 announced
  7. + PuzzleLong shot48 devs · median $479 · 40 announced
  8. + World War IIPoor odds23 devs · median $105k · 38 announced
  9. + Real-Time with PausePoor odds28 devs · median $64k · 41 announced
  10. + Open WorldPoor odds45 devs · median $35k · 100 announced
  11. + Colony SimPoor odds87 devs · median $31k · 159 announced
  12. + HistoricalPoor odds108 devs · median $30k · 180 announced

All 149 pairs on the RTS page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Kingdoms Reborn 2020 · EA · $5.3M Demon Lord: Just a Block 2026 · $805k Border Pioneer 2025 · $753k Big Bia 2022 · $583k There Are No Orcs 2025 · $320k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Kingdoms Reborn · EA older $19.99 8,862 90% 266k $5.3M (exactly $5,314,541) Earthshine
Demon Lord: Just a Block $12.99 2,065 96% 62k $805k (exactly $804,730) YuWave
Border Pioneer $14.99 1,675 86% 50k $753k (exactly $753,248) Yahzj Games
Big Bia older $14.99 1,296 69% 39k $583k (exactly $582,811) Pixel House Games
There Are No Orcs $8.99 1,188 93% 36k $320k (exactly $320,404) BaseTrade Studio
Cube Chaos $11.99 621 95% 19k $223k (exactly $223,374) Wunarg
Necronator: Dead Wrong older $12.99 353 67% 11k $138k (exactly $137,564) Toge Productions
Warlords Under Siege $9.99 436 77% 13k $131k (exactly $130,669) RedKar Devs
Ironclad Tactics older $14.99 237 75% 7.1k $107k (exactly $106,579) Zachtronics
Skyworld older $14.99 229 79% 6.9k $103k (exactly $102,981) Vertigo Games, Wolfdog Interactive
Moon Corona · EA $13.99 210 82% 6.3k $88k (exactly $88,137) 不倒龙工作室, Budaolong Studio
Forest Heroes $9.99 278 83% 8.3k $83k (exactly $83,317) Hoochoo Game Studios
Aurora Defense · EA $12.99 98 60% 2.9k $38k (exactly $38,191) Moka Games
The Deadly Path $12.99 84 39% 2.5k $33k (exactly $32,735) Owlskip Enterprises
Flaregate Network $14.99 58 77% 1.7k $26k (exactly $26,083) Keycard Studio, LLC

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