Games › RTS › RTS + Destruction
Should I ship a Destruction RTS?
RTS + Destruction
Of 24 developers who shipped a Destruction 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.. 57 more are announced, ×5.2 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 7 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $2.5k, ×1.7 the market's $1.5k for a 7 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $300; 1 in 20 cleared $850k, ×569 the market median. Revenue is up 65% on the market; 57 games are announced against 11 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $300 (exactly $300) |
|---|---|
| Median | $2.5k (exactly $2,545) |
| Top 25% | $43k (exactly $42,636) |
| Top 5% | $852k (exactly $851,659) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 24 |
| Released games | 70 |
| Announced | 57 |
| Effort | 7 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Low |
| Typical price | $10.99 |
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 65% on the market, supply 15% fewer developers than the period before.
Free games: 9%, 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
- Destruction
- 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, Destruction; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Strategy, Tactical, Action
- Price point
- $10.99 typical · top 25% priced $29.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Atmospheric
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $29.99 or above; the middle game at $10.99.
The top 10 games average 85% positive over 3,266 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $300. 8 in 10 of the 15 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 57 games are announced against 11 developers who shipped in the last year, ×5.2 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
Total War: THREE KINGDOMS 2019 · $76M 
Men of War: Assault Squad 2 2014 · $32M 
Dawn of Man 2019 · $13M 
Planetary Annihilation: TITANS 2015 · $10M 
Total Conflict: Resistance 2023 · EA · $4.6M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Total War: THREE KINGDOMS | older | $39.99 | 63,110 82% | 1.9M | $76M (exactly $75,713,067) | CREATIVE ASSEMBLY, Feral Interactive (M… (CREATIVE ASSEMBLY, Feral Interactive (Mac), Feral Interactive (Linux)) |
| | Men of War: Assault Squad 2 | older | $29.99 | 35,744 91% | 1.1M | $32M (exactly $32,158,877) | Digitalmindsoft |
| | Dawn of Man | older | $24.99 | 17,094 86% | 513k | $13M (exactly $12,815,372) | Madruga Works |
| | Planetary Annihilation: TITANS | older | $29.99 | 11,401 84% | 342k | $10M (exactly $10,257,480) | Planetary Annihilation Inc |
| | Total Conflict: Resistance | · EA older | $29.99 | 5,089 74% | 153k | $4.6M (exactly $4,578,573) | Thunder Devs. |
 | Terminator: Dark Fate - Defiance | older | $39.99 | 3,395 82% | 102k | $4.1M (exactly $4,072,982) | Slitherine Ltd. |
 | Warhammer Age of Sigmar: Realms of Ruin | older | $59.99 | 1,867 55% | 56k | $3.4M (exactly $3,360,040) | Frontier Developments |
 | Taur | older | $24.99 | 2,011 79% | 60k | $1.5M (exactly $1,507,647) | Echo Entertainment |
 | Men of War: Assault Squad | older | $9.99 | 4,029 87% | 121k | $1.2M (exactly $1,207,491) | Digitalmindsoft |
 | ICBM: Escalation | $29.99 | 1,248 86% | 37k | $1.1M (exactly $1,122,826) | SoftWarWare | |
 | The Scouring | · EA | $24.99 | 1,136 88% | 34k | $852k (exactly $851,659) | Orc Group |
 | Annihilate The Spance | · EA | $29.99 | 347 90% | 10k | $312k (exactly $312,196) | Skyglow Softworks |
 | Wartorn | $34.99 | 130 73% | 3.9k | $136k (exactly $136,461) | Stray Kite Studios | |
 | Extinction Day | $19.99 | 206 74% | 6.2k | $124k (exactly $123,538) | DryGin Studios | |
 | Red Chaos - The Strict Order | · EA | $17.99 | 79 81% | 2.4k | $43k (exactly $42,636) | Squarecut Games |
 | Battlefield Commander WWII | · EA | $19.99 | 54 70% | 1.6k | $32k (exactly $32,384) | Sword of Steel |
 | NAPOLEON: RULE OF IRON | $19.99 | 22 90% | 660 | $13k (exactly $13,193) | Eisengeist Studio | |
 | Maelstrom: The Battle for Earth Begins Enhanced | $6.99 | 33 75% | 990 | $6.9k (exactly $6,920) | KDV Games | |
 | Propa. | $7.99 | 11 54% | 330 | $2.6k (exactly $2,637) | Contagio Games |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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