Games › Real-Time › Real-Time + Economy
Should I ship an Economy Real-Time game?
Real-Time + Economy
Only 6 developers shipped an Economy Real-Time 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, Endzone 2, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 17 more are announced, ×8.5 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: dead, for a 6 / 10 build.
Only 2 developers shipped this in the last year, under the 5 a verdict needs; over 2 years the middle one made $280k against a market of $630. 17 games are announced.
not enough cohorts to draw
| Bottom 30% | $3.6k (exactly $3,599) |
|---|---|
| Median | $276k (exactly $276,462) |
| Top 25% | $322k (exactly $322,039) |
| Top 5% | $804k (exactly $804,332) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 6 |
| Released games | 41 |
| Announced | 17 |
| Effort | 6 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| 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 too few recent games to read momentum, supply 50% fewer developers than the period before.
Free games: 15%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- Real-Time, Economy
- 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 $15.99.
The top 10 games average 78% positive over 61,599 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $3.6k. None of the 6 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 17 games are announced against 2 developers who shipped in the last year, ×8.5 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Real-Time with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Character CustomizationStrong odds
- + RogueliteFair
- + BuildingPoor odds
- + HistoricalPoor odds
- + WarPoor odds
- + Base BuildingPoor odds
- + WargamePoor odds
- + PhysicsPoor odds
- + Tower DefensePoor odds
- + Action RTSPoor odds
- + StrategyPoor odds
- + RTSPoor odds
Comparable games
Anno 2070™ 2011 · $6.9M 
Railway Empire 2018 · $6.5M 
Endzone - A World Apart 2021 · $6.2M 
Stronghold: Warlords 2021 · $5.3M 
Stronghold Crusader HD (2012) 2013 · $5.3M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Anno 2070™ | older | $19.99 | 11,571 59% | 347k | $6.9M (exactly $6,939,129) | Blue Byte, Related Designs |
| | Railway Empire | older | $29.99 | 7,219 82% | 217k | $6.5M (exactly $6,494,934) | Gaming Minds Studios |
| | Endzone - A World Apart | older | $24.99 | 8,311 76% | 249k | $6.2M (exactly $6,230,757) | Gentlymad Studios |
| | Stronghold: Warlords | older | $39.99 | 4,449 65% | 133k | $5.3M (exactly $5,337,465) | Firefly Studios |
| | Stronghold Crusader HD (2012) | older | $9.99 | 17,564 97% | 527k | $5.3M (exactly $5,263,931) | Firefly Studios |
 | Stronghold 3 Gold | older | $29.99 | 3,008 31% | 90k | $2.7M (exactly $2,706,298) | Firefly Studios |
 | Stronghold 2: Steam Edition | older | $14.99 | 4,881 88% | 146k | $2.2M (exactly $2,194,986) | Firefly Studios |
 | Railroad Corporation | older | $35.99 | 1,094 74% | 33k | $1.2M (exactly $1,181,192) | Corbie Games |
 | RAILGRADE | older | $29.99 | 1,205 84% | 36k | $1.1M (exactly $1,084,138) | Minakata Dynamics |
 | Stronghold Legends: Steam Edition | older | $14.99 | 2,297 87% | 69k | $1.0M (exactly $1,032,961) | Firefly Studios |
 | Endzone 2 | $29.99 | 894 65% | 27k | $804k (exactly $804,332) | Gentlymad Studios | |
 | Builders of Greece | $19.99 | 537 54% | 16k | $322k (exactly $322,039) | BLUM Entertainment, Strategy Labs | |
 | Builders of Egypt | $19.99 | 461 31% | 14k | $276k (exactly $276,462) | Strategy Labs | |
 | Final Outpost: Definitive Edition | $9.99 | 208 76% | 6.2k | $62k (exactly $62,338) | Exabyte Games | |
 | Maximilian Spee | · EA | $39.99 | 3 33% | 90 | $3.6k (exactly $3,599) | EUGENE LOPATIN |
 | Space Sim Tycoon | $15.99 | 5 60% | 150 | $2.4k (exactly $2,398) | SuperChicken Productions LLC |
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.