Games › Real-Time with Pause › Real-Time with Pause + Choices Matter
Should I ship a Choices Matter Real-Time with Pause game?
Real-Time with Pause + Choices Matter
Only 9 developers shipped a Choices Matter 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, Hollywood Animal, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 23 more are announced, ×4.6 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 7 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $210k, ×143 the market's $1.5k for a 7 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $87k; 1 in 20 cleared $2.3M, ×1539 the market median. Revenue is down 80% on the market; 23 games are announced against 5 developers who shipped in the last year.
not enough cohorts to draw
| Bottom 30% | $87k (exactly $86,965) |
|---|---|
| Median | $215k (exactly $214,693) |
| Top 25% | $1.5M (exactly $1,540,192) |
| Top 5% | $2.3M (exactly $2,305,846) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 9 |
| Released games | 41 |
| Announced | 23 |
| Effort | 7 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Low |
| Typical price | $19.99 |
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 80% on the market, supply 25% more developers than the period before.
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
- Choices Matter
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 7 / 10 · big single-player or serious online
- Systems
- Real-Time with Pause, Choices Matter
- Price point
- $19.99 typical
Why players buy here
Fewer than 10 games in the last 2 years; sentiment and price figures use the all window.
The top 25% priced at $29.99 or above; the middle game at $19.99.
The top 10 games average 88% positive over 370,265 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $87k. 23 games are announced against 5 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.6 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
- + HistoricalPoor odds
- + MilitaryPoor odds
- + MedievalPoor odds
- + Base BuildingPoor odds
- + SurvivalPoor odds
- + Colony SimPoor odds
Comparable games
Crusader Kings III 2020 · $142M 
Frostpunk 2018 · $103M 
Dragon Age: Origins - Ultimate Edition 2010 · $26M 
Imperator: Rome 2019 · $23M 
Pathfinder: Kingmaker — Enhanced Plus Edition 2018 · $17M | 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 |
| | Frostpunk | older | $29.99 | 114,376 92% | 3.4M | $103M (exactly $102,904,087) | 11 bit studios |
| | Dragon Age: Origins - Ultimate Edition | older | $29.99 | 28,721 85% | 862k | $26M (exactly $25,840,284) | BioWare |
| | Imperator: Rome | older | $39.99 | 19,492 65% | 585k | $23M (exactly $23,384,552) | Paradox Development Studio |
| | Pathfinder: Kingmaker — Enhanced Plus Edition | older | $19.99 | 28,146 77% | 844k | $17M (exactly $16,879,156) | Owlcat Games |
 | Pillars of Eternity | older | $29.99 | 16,990 87% | 510k | $15M (exactly $15,285,903) | Obsidian Entertainment |
 | Mass Effect (2007) | older | $29.99 | 14,871 93% | 446k | $13M (exactly $13,379,439) | BioWare |
 | Tyranny | older | $29.99 | 9,877 87% | 296k | $8.9M (exactly $8,886,337) | Obsidian Entertainment |
 | Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire | older | $19.99 | 14,659 87% | 440k | $8.8M (exactly $8,791,002) | Obsidian Entertainment |
 | STAR WARS™ Knights of the Old Republic™ | older | $9.99 | 28,518 90% | 856k | $8.5M (exactly $8,546,845) | BioWare, Aspyr (Mac) |
 | Hollywood Animal | · EA | $19.99 | 3,845 73% | 115k | $2.3M (exactly $2,305,846) | Weappy Wholesome |
 | Void War | $19.99 | 3,653 94% | 110k | $2.2M (exactly $2,190,704) | Tundra | |
 | GreedFall: The Dying World | $49.99 | 1,027 61% | 31k | $1.5M (exactly $1,540,192) | Spiders | |
 | Company of Heroes 3: Final Stand | $29.99 | 1,015 49% | 30k | $913k (exactly $913,196) | Relic Entertainment | |
 | Here Comes The Swarm | · EA | $19.99 | 358 84% | 11k | $215k (exactly $214,693) | CableHook Games |
 | Welcome Back, Commander | $14.99 | 230 80% | 6.9k | $103k (exactly $103,431) | S.C. 16 BIT NIGHTS S.R.L. | |
 | Elengard: Ascension | · EA | $24.99 | 116 77% | 3.5k | $87k (exactly $86,965) | Stèphano M. M. G. |
 | Riot Operator | $14.99 | 151 25% | 4.5k | $68k (exactly $67,905) | Beta 2 Games | |
 | RUPTURR | · EA | $5.99 | 2 100% | 60 | $359 (exactly $359) | Aikon Interactive |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
Your address goes to Buttondown, which sends the letter, and nowhere else. Every issue has an unsubscribe link. No tracking beyond the open count Buttondown keeps.