Do I ship it?

Games › Real Time Tactics › Real Time Tactics + Crafting

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Crafting Real Time Tactics?

Real Time Tactics + Crafting

Of 44 developers who shipped a Crafting 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.. 92 more are announced, ×3.7 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $1.8k, ×2.9 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $450; 1 in 20 cleared $440k, ×704 the market median. Revenue is down 70% on the market; 92 games are announced against 25 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 2.9 times the market baseline, revenue down 70% on the market, 92 announced, ×3.7 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Real Time Tactics + Crafting
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 44
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $1.1k → $150 → $1.8k → $2.8k → $4.3k → $2.9k → $449 (still earning) → $2.3k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Real Time Tactics + Crafting: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 44
Bottom 30% $449 (exactly $449)
Median $1.8k (exactly $1,798)
Top 25% $15k (exactly $15,112)
Top 5% $442k (exactly $442,323)
Developers, 2 yr 44
Released games 139
Announced 92
Effort 6 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $8.99

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 70% on the market, supply 30% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 14%, 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
Crafting
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, Crafting; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Strategy, Simulation, Base Building
Price point
$8.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
Art
5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $8.99.

The top 10 games average 85% positive over 20,532 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $450, median $1.8k, 1 in 4 over $15k, 1 in 20 over $440k.

3 in 10 developers made under $450. 8 in 10 of the 23 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 92 games are announced against 25 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.7 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

Kenshi 2018 · $89M Going Medieval 2026 · $15M Fisher Online 2019 · $1.8M Medieval Kingdom Wars 2019 · $1.0M Stars End 2023 · $677k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Kenshi older $29.99 98,451 95% 3.0M $89M (exactly $88,576,365) Lo-Fi Games
Going Medieval $29.99 17,032 88% 511k $15M (exactly $15,323,690) Foxy Voxel
Fisher Online older $13.99 4,199 81% 126k $1.8M (exactly $1,762,320) R-Age LLC
Medieval Kingdom Wars older $14.99 2,233 76% 67k $1.0M (exactly $1,004,180) Reverie World Studios
Stars End older $19.99 1,129 63% 34k $677k (exactly $677,061) Reverie World Studios
Blackthorn Arena: Reforged $24.99 882 66% 26k $661k (exactly $661,235) PersonaeGame Studio
Survive the Fall $24.99 590 65% 18k $442k (exactly $442,323) Angry Bulls Studio
Crown of Greed $19.99 680 60% 20k $408k (exactly $407,796) BLUM Entertainment
Oxygen older $14.99 830 70% 25k $373k (exactly $373,251) Turquoise Revival Games
The Pioneers: Surviving Desolation · EA older $29.99 397 63% 12k $357k (exactly $357,181) Supercube
Castle Of Alchemists $14.99 618 80% 19k $278k (exactly $277,915) Team Machiavelli
Ascent of Ashes · EA $14.99 268 68% 8.0k $121k (exactly $120,520) Vivid Storm Interactive
Knights of the Crusades $19.99 166 69% 5.0k $100k (exactly $99,550) Reverie World Studios
Screeps: Arena $19.99 105 82% 3.2k $63k (exactly $62,968) Screeps, LLC
FULL METAL COFFIN $4.99 137 94% 4.1k $21k (exactly $20,509) Titanite, Mantle Array, Xenith
Post-Apo Builder $9.99 54 37% 1.6k $16k (exactly $16,184) Septarian Games

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