Games › Real-Time with Pause › Real-Time with Pause + Exploration
Should I ship an Exploration Real-Time with Pause game?
Real-Time with Pause + Exploration
Only 13 developers shipped an Exploration 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, Flotsam, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 24 more are announced, ×2.7 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 7 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $210k, ×143 the market's $1.5k for a 7 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $15k; 1 in 20 cleared $3.2M, ×2156 the market median. Revenue is up 75% on the market; 24 games are announced against 9 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $15k (exactly $14,809) |
|---|---|
| Median | $215k (exactly $214,693) |
| Top 25% | $779k (exactly $778,938) |
| Top 5% | $3.2M (exactly $3,229,708) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 13 |
| Released games | 45 |
| Announced | 24 |
| 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 75% on the market, supply 125% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 2%, excluded from money figures.
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
- Exploration
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 7 / 10 · big single-player or serious online
- Systems
- Real-Time with Pause, Exploration; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Open World, Resource Management, Strategy
- Price point
- $14.99 typical · top 25% priced $49.99 or above
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $49.99 or above; the middle game at $14.99.
The top 10 games average 80% positive over 11,402 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $15k. 24 games are announced against 9 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.7 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Real-Time with Pause with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + CombatStrong odds
- + ActionFair
- + Open WorldPoor odds
- + AdventurePoor odds
- + City BuilderPoor odds
- + Choices MatterPoor odds
- + HistoricalPoor odds
- + MilitaryPoor odds
- + MedievalPoor odds
- + Base BuildingPoor odds
- + SurvivalPoor odds
- + Colony SimPoor odds
Comparable games
Stellaris 2016 · $210M 
Pillars of Eternity 2015 · $15M 
FINAL FANTASY XII THE ZODIAC AGE 2018 · $13M 
Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire 2018 · $8.8M 
STAR WARS™ Knights of the Old Republic™ 2009 · $8.5M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Stellaris | older | $49.99 | 139,718 85% | 4.2M | $210M (exactly $209,535,085) | Paradox Development Studio |
| | Pillars of Eternity | older | $29.99 | 16,990 87% | 510k | $15M (exactly $15,285,903) | Obsidian Entertainment |
| | FINAL FANTASY XII THE ZODIAC AGE | older | $49.99 | 8,679 88% | 260k | $13M (exactly $13,015,896) | Square Enix |
| | Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire | older | $19.99 | 14,659 87% | 440k | $8.8M (exactly $8,791,002) | Obsidian Entertainment |
| | STAR WARS™ Knights of the Old Republic™ | older | $9.99 | 28,518 90% | 856k | $8.5M (exactly $8,546,845) | BioWare, Aspyr (Mac) |
 | The Universim | older | $29.99 | 8,465 79% | 254k | $7.6M (exactly $7,615,960) | Crytivo |
 | Cosmoteer: Starship Architect & Commander | · EA older | $19.99 | 12,013 94% | 360k | $7.2M (exactly $7,204,196) | Walternate Realities |
 | Lost in Random™ | older | $29.99 | 4,479 88% | 134k | $4.0M (exactly $4,029,756) | Zoink, Thunderful |
 | Flotsam | $24.99 | 4,308 80% | 129k | $3.2M (exactly $3,229,708) | Pajama Llama Games | |
 | New Cycle | · EA older | $29.99 | 2,597 78% | 78k | $2.3M (exactly $2,336,521) | Core Engage |
 | GreedFall: The Dying World | $49.99 | 1,027 61% | 31k | $1.5M (exactly $1,540,192) | Spiders | |
 | House of Legacy | · EA | $14.99 | 3,269 84% | 98k | $1.5M (exactly $1,470,069) | S3 Studio |
 | Battlestar Galactica: Scattered Hopes | $24.99 | 1,039 76% | 31k | $779k (exactly $778,938) | Alt Shift | |
 | Airborne Empire | $29.99 | 852 86% | 26k | $767k (exactly $766,544) | The Wandering Band LLC | |
 | Escape The Mad Empire | · EA | $17.99 | 406 88% | 12k | $219k (exactly $219,118) | XperimentalZ Games |
 | Here Comes The Swarm | · EA | $19.99 | 358 84% | 11k | $215k (exactly $214,693) | CableHook Games |
 | Geo Mythica | $14.99 | 50 100% | 1.5k | $22k (exactly $22,485) | Guin Entertainment, LLC | |
 | Deadlock Station | $9.99 | 55 80% | 1.7k | $16k (exactly $16,484) | Luxorix Games | |
 | NovaMundi | $12.99 | 38 81% | 1.1k | $15k (exactly $14,809) | Slashware Interactive |
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.