Games › RTS › RTS + Character Customization
Should I ship a Character Customization RTS?
RTS + Character Customization
Of 35 developers who shipped a Character Customization 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.. 109 more are announced, ×6.1 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 7 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $5.8k, ×3.8 the market's $1.5k for a 7 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $300; 1 in 20 cleared $2.0M, ×1376 the market median. Revenue is down 75% on the market; 109 games are announced against 18 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $300 (exactly $300) |
|---|---|
| Median | $5.8k (exactly $5,756) |
| Top 25% | $70k (exactly $70,153) |
| Top 5% | $2.1M (exactly $2,061,213) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 35 |
| Released games | 134 |
| Announced | 109 |
| Effort | 7 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Low |
| Typical price | $9.99 |
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 75% on the market, supply as many developers as the period before.
Free games: 16%, excluded from money figures.
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
- Character Customization
- effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 7 / 10 · big single-player or serious online
- Systems
- RTS, Character Customization; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Strategy, Real Time Tactics, Simulation
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $29.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $29.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 75% positive over 14,327 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $300. 6 in 10 of the 21 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 109 games are announced against 18 developers who shipped in the last year, ×6.1 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
Crusader Kings III 2020 · $142M 
Kenshi 2018 · $89M 
Kingdom Heroes 8 2021 · $12M 
Romance of the Three Kingdoms XIII 2016 · $10M 
SpellForce 3 Reforced 2017 · $6.9M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Crusader Kings III | older | $49.99 | 94,615 90% | 2.8M | $142M (exactly $141,894,116) | Paradox Development Studio |
| | Kenshi | older | $29.99 | 98,451 95% | 3.0M | $89M (exactly $88,576,365) | Lo-Fi Games |
| | Kingdom Heroes 8 | older | $29.99 | 12,793 55% | 384k | $12M (exactly $11,509,862) | USERJOY Technology Co.,Ltd. |
| | Romance of the Three Kingdoms XIII | older | $59.99 | 5,828 57% | 175k | $10M (exactly $10,488,652) | KOEI TECMO GAMES CO., LTD. |
| | SpellForce 3 Reforced | older | $39.99 | 5,784 76% | 174k | $6.9M (exactly $6,939,065) | Grimlore Games |
 | The Guild 3 | older | $29.99 | 7,120 60% | 214k | $6.4M (exactly $6,405,864) | Purple Lamp, GolemLabs |
 | ROMANCE OF THE THREE KINGDOMS 8 REMAKE | $59.99 | 3,118 49% | 94k | $5.6M (exactly $5,611,465) | KOEI TECMO GAMES CO., LTD. | |
 | Minecraft Legends | older | $39.99 | 2,621 59% | 79k | $3.1M (exactly $3,144,414) | Mojang Studios, Blackbird Interactive |
 | Carrier Command 2 | older | $29.99 | 3,444 82% | 103k | $3.1M (exactly $3,098,567) | Geometa |
 | Age of Reforging: The Freelands | $29.99 | 2,291 71% | 69k | $2.1M (exactly $2,061,213) | PersonaeGame Studio | |
 | Oddsparks: An Automation Adventure | $29.99 | 1,867 82% | 56k | $1.7M (exactly $1,679,740) | Massive Miniteam | |
 | Survivalist: Invisible Strain | $11.99 | 4,014 87% | 120k | $1.4M (exactly $1,443,836) | Bob | |
 | Ukrainian Warfare: Gostomel Heroes | $14.99 | 1,921 90% | 58k | $864k (exactly $863,874) | Cats Who Play | |
 | King of Retail 2 | · EA | $19.99 | 275 79% | 8.3k | $165k (exactly $164,918) | Freaking Games |
 | Grit and Valor - 1949 | $19.99 | 274 75% | 8.2k | $164k (exactly $164,318) | Milky Tea Studios | |
 | BURGGEIST | $12.00 | 260 97% | 7.8k | $94k (exactly $93,600) | GHRIAN STUDIO | |
 | Barely Working | · EA | $14.99 | 156 91% | 4.7k | $70k (exactly $70,153) | Deep Games LLC |
 | Riot Operator | $14.99 | 151 25% | 4.5k | $68k (exactly $67,905) | Beta 2 Games |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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