Do I ship it?

GamesReal Time TacticsReal Time Tactics + Combat

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Combat Real Time Tactics?

Real Time Tactics + Combat

Of 256 developers who shipped a Combat 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.. 474 more are announced, ×3.9 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $660, level with the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $120; 1 in 20 cleared $360k, ×588 the market median. Revenue is down 25% on the market; 474 games are announced against 122 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.0 times the market baseline, revenue down 25% on the market, 474 announced, ×3.9 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Real Time Tactics + Combat
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 256
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $898 → $1.6k → $1.2k → $300 → $1.8k → $657 → $419 (still earning) → $419 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Real Time Tactics + Combat: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 256
Bottom 30% $120 (exactly $120)
Median $657 (exactly $657)
Top 25% $7.2k (exactly $7,195)
Top 5% $369k (exactly $369,415)
Developers, 2 yr 256
Released games 644
Announced 474
Effort 6 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
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 down 25% on the market, supply 10% fewer developers than the period before.

Free games: 16%, 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
Combat
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium 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, Combat; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Strategy, RTS, Tactical
Price point
$7.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Top-Down
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.

The top 10 games average 81% positive over 24,771 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $120, median $660, 1 in 4 over $7.1k, 1 in 20 over $360k.

3 in 10 developers made under $120. 9 in 10 of the 161 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 474 games are announced against 122 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.9 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

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Aliens: Dark Descent older $39.99 15,310 87% 459k $18M (exactly $18,367,407) Tindalos Interactive
Kingdom Heroes 8 older $29.99 12,793 55% 384k $12M (exactly $11,509,862) USERJOY Technology Co.,Ltd.
Ultimate General: Civil War older $29.99 8,331 88% 250k $7.5M (exactly $7,495,401) Game-Labs
Partisans 1941 older $29.99 7,531 82% 226k $6.8M (exactly $6,775,641) Alter Games
Bad North: Jotunn Edition older $14.99 12,344 93% 370k $5.6M (exactly $5,551,097) Plausible Concept, Oskar Stålberg
OPERATOR · EA older $19.99 8,605 86% 258k $5.2M (exactly $5,160,418) VECTOR INTERACTIVE PTY LTD
The King is Watching $14.99 9,006 88% 270k $4.0M (exactly $4,049,998) Hypnohead
Sudden Strike 4 older $19.99 6,249 78% 187k $3.7M (exactly $3,747,525) Kite Games
Master of Command $29.99 3,840 92% 115k $3.5M (exactly $3,454,848) Armchair Interactive
Warhammer Age of Sigmar: Realms of Ruin older $59.99 1,867 55% 56k $3.4M (exactly $3,360,040) Frontier Developments
Commandos: Origins $49.99 1,844 79% 55k $2.8M (exactly $2,765,447) Claymore Game Studios
Call to Arms: Panzer Elite · EA $29.99 1,927 69% 58k $1.7M (exactly $1,733,722) Digitalmindsoft
Ascension · EA $19.99 2,437 60% 73k $1.5M (exactly $1,461,469) Element Game 微元游戏
Tabletop Tavern $19.99 2,049 89% 61k $1.2M (exactly $1,228,785) TJ
JIANGHU CHRONICLES $17.99 2,046 70% 61k $1.1M (exactly $1,104,226) 一品阁
Sudden Strike 5 $49.99 641 75% 19k $961k (exactly $961,308) Kite Games
Geo-Political Simulator 5 $59.99 391 34% 12k $704k (exactly $703,683) Eversim
Survive the Fall $24.99 590 65% 18k $442k (exactly $442,323) Angry Bulls Studio

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