Do I ship it?

Games › Real-Time with Pause › Real-Time with Pause + Combat

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Combat Real-Time with Pause game?

Real-Time with Pause + Combat

Only 14 developers shipped a Combat 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, Wicked Seed, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 12 more are announced.

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

The middle developer here made $15k, ×10 the market's $1.5k for a 7 / 10 build, and 7 in 10 cleared $13k. Revenue is up 955% on the market; 12 games are announced against 8 developers who shipped in the last year, ×1.5 per shipper.

Deciding numbers: median 10.2 times the market baseline, revenue up 955% on the market, 12 announced, ×1.5 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Real-Time with Pause + Combat
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 14
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $17k → $28k → $767k (still earning) → $15k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Real-Time with Pause + Combat: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 14
Bottom 30% $13k (exactly $13,491)
Median $15k (exactly $15,350)
Top 25% $143k (exactly $143,020)
Top 5% $825k (exactly $825,187)
Developers, 2 yr 14
Released games 31
Announced 12
Effort 7 / 10
AI-buildability Low
Typical price $14.99

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 955% on the market, supply 35% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 3%, 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.

Real-Time with Pause
effort 7 / 10 · low · effort 7 sits in the low 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
7 / 10 · big single-player or serious online
Systems
Real-Time with Pause, Combat
Price point
$14.99 typical
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 10 games average 89% positive over 3,844 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $14k, median $15k, 1 in 4 over $140k, 1 in 20 over $820k.

3 in 10 developers made under $14k. 8 in 10 of the 6 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 12 games are announced against 8 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + ActionFair16 devs · median $103k · 18 announced
  2. + Open WorldPoor odds8 devs · median $767k · 11 announced
  3. + AdventurePoor odds10 devs · median $561k · 7 announced
  4. + City BuilderPoor odds13 devs · median $215k · 25 announced
  5. + ExplorationPoor odds13 devs · median $215k · 24 announced
  6. + Choices MatterPoor odds9 devs · median $215k · 23 announced
  7. + HistoricalPoor odds14 devs · median $124k · 19 announced
  8. + MilitaryPoor odds11 devs · median $124k · 33 announced
  9. + MedievalPoor odds10 devs · median $87k · 22 announced
  10. + Base BuildingPoor odds20 devs · median $73k · 35 announced
  11. + SurvivalPoor odds20 devs · median $73k · 27 announced
  12. + Colony SimPoor odds11 devs · median $73k · 21 announced

All 41 pairs on the Real-Time with Pause page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Lost in Random™ 2021 · $4.0M Distant Worlds 2 2022 · $4.0M Wicked Seed 2026 · $825k Airborne Empire 2026 · $767k Dark Envoy 2023 · $704k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Lost in Random™ older $29.99 4,479 88% 134k $4.0M (exactly $4,029,756) Zoink, Thunderful
Distant Worlds 2 older $49.99 2,653 72% 80k $4.0M (exactly $3,978,704) CodeForce
Wicked Seed $19.99 1,376 94% 41k $825k (exactly $825,187) Dead Right Games
Airborne Empire $29.99 852 86% 26k $767k (exactly $766,544) The Wandering Band LLC
Dark Envoy older $29.99 783 69% 23k $704k (exactly $704,465) Event Horizon
Banquet for Fools $19.99 936 89% 28k $561k (exactly $561,319) Hannah and Joseph Games
The Fall of the Dungeon Guardians - Enhanced Edition older $19.99 625 83% 19k $375k (exactly $374,812) Mana Games
Rift Riff $12.99 367 94% 11k $143k (exactly $143,020) Adriaan de Jongh, Sim Kaart, Matthijs K… (Adriaan de Jongh, Sim Kaart, Matthijs Koster, Franz LaZerte, Professional Panda)
Attack at Dawn: North Africa older $29.99 101 87% 3.0k $91k (exactly $90,870) Panzer Division Games
Elengard: Ascension · EA $24.99 116 77% 3.5k $87k (exactly $86,965) Stèphano M. M. G.
Dustwind: Resistance $19.90 47 80% 1.4k $28k (exactly $28,059) Dustwind Studios, Z-Software
Deep Space Outpost $15.99 32 71% 960 $15k (exactly $15,350) Niris Games
Skills & Raids $9.99 50 66% 1.5k $15k (exactly $14,985) Eddie H.Hinestroza
NovaMundi $12.99 38 81% 1.1k $15k (exactly $14,809) Slashware Interactive
Status One $14.99 30 73% 900 $13k (exactly $13,491) LastCall Studio

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