Do I ship it?

GamesReal Time TacticsReal Time Tactics + Economy

Specimen · observed

Should I ship an Economy Real Time Tactics?

Real Time Tactics + Economy

Of 98 developers who shipped an Economy 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.. 188 more are announced, ×3.1 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $1.5k, ×2.3 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $360; 1 in 20 cleared $700k, ×1121 the market median. Revenue is down 10% on the market; 188 games are announced against 61 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 2.3 times the market baseline, revenue down 10% on the market, 188 announced, ×3.1 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Real Time Tactics + Economy
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 98
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $31k → $4.8k → $5.4k → $478 → $4.3k → $1.0k → $2.1k (still earning) → $1.2k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Real Time Tactics + Economy: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 98
Bottom 30% $358 (exactly $358)
Median $1.5k (exactly $1,468)
Top 25% $13k (exactly $12,724)
Top 5% $704k (exactly $703,683)
Developers, 2 yr 98
Released games 246
Announced 188
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 10% on the market, supply 55% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 10%, 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
Economy
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, Economy; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Strategy, Management, RTS
Price point
$8.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
Art
4 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 33,777 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $360, median $1.5k, 1 in 4 over $12k, 1 in 20 over $700k.

3 in 10 developers made under $360. 8 in 10 of the 44 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 188 games are announced against 61 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.1 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
Going Medieval $29.99 17,032 88% 511k $15M (exactly $15,323,690) Foxy Voxel
Dune: Spice Wars older $34.99 11,561 79% 347k $12M (exactly $12,135,582) Shiro Games
Dungeons 3 older $29.99 12,648 93% 379k $11M (exactly $11,379,406) Realmforge Studios
Ultimate Admiral: Dreadnoughts older $34.99 6,664 62% 200k $7.0M (exactly $6,995,201) Game-Labs
Stronghold Crusader: Definitive Edition $19.99 10,627 92% 319k $6.4M (exactly $6,373,012) Firefly 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
Turmoil older $12.99 13,154 92% 395k $5.1M (exactly $5,126,114) Gamious
Stronghold: Definitive Edition older $14.99 9,787 86% 294k $4.4M (exactly $4,401,214) Firefly Studios
Stronghold 2: Steam Edition older $14.99 4,881 88% 146k $2.2M (exactly $2,194,986) Firefly Studios
Ascension · EA $19.99 2,437 60% 73k $1.5M (exactly $1,461,469) Element Game 微元游戏
ZeroSpace · EA $39.99 1,161 78% 35k $1.4M (exactly $1,392,852) Starlance Studios, Ironward
Geo-Political Simulator 5 $59.99 391 34% 12k $704k (exactly $703,683) Eversim
Geo-Political Simulator 2026 Edition $59.99 249 48% 7.5k $448k (exactly $448,125) Eversim
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
Calyx · EA $24.99 471 88% 14k $353k (exactly $353,109) Studio 568
AfterWar $34.99 139 72% 4.2k $146k (exactly $145,908) Dmytro Lumen

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