Do I ship it?

Games › Real Time Tactics › Real Time Tactics + Grid-Based Movement

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Grid-Based Movement Real Time Tactics?

Real Time Tactics + Grid-Based Movement

Of 30 developers who shipped a Grid-Based Movement 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.. 50 more are announced, ×2.5 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: dead, for a 6 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $300 in the last 2 years and $300 over 4, against a market of $630 for a 6 / 10 build. 20 developers shipped in the last year and 50 games are announced.

Deciding numbers: median 0.5 times the market baseline, revenue down 70% on the market, 50 announced, ×2.5 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Real Time Tactics + Grid-Based Movement
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 30
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $119 → $2.9k → $449 → $6.7k → $358 → $551 (still earning) → $0 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Real Time Tactics + Grid-Based Movement: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 30
Bottom 30% $90 (exactly $90)
Median $300 (exactly $300)
Top 25% $5.0k (exactly $5,032)
Top 5% $54k (exactly $53,514)
Developers, 2 yr 30
Released games 75
Announced 50
Effort 6 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $4.99

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 100% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 17%, 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
Grid-Based Movement
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high 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, Grid-Based Movement; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Strategy, PvE, RTS
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Top-Down
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 86% positive over 349 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $90, median $300, 1 in 4 over $5.0k, 1 in 20 over $53k.

3 in 10 developers made under $90. All of the 11 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 50 games are announced against 20 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.5 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

Shardpunk 2023 · $310k Touhou Spell Carnival 2025 · $73k Machinefall 2026 · $54k Combat Directive : Napoleonic Wars 2024 · $22k Temporal Titans 2026 · EA · $13k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Shardpunk older $13.99 739 92% 22k $310k (exactly $310,158) Clockwork Pile
Touhou Spell Carnival $49.99 49 77% 1.5k $73k (exactly $73,485) Idea Factory, Compile Heart, STING
Machinefall $14.99 119 82% 3.6k $54k (exactly $53,514) by Jan Zizka
Combat Directive : Napoleonic Wars $19.99 36 88% 1.1k $22k (exactly $21,589) Fatice Games
Temporal Titans · EA $9.99 44 95% 1.3k $13k (exactly $13,187) Lost Tower Games
Dungeons Of The Deep older $14.99 22 59% 660 $9.9k (exactly $9,893) Gray Mantis
Kinetype · EA $6.99 36 83% 1.1k $7.5k (exactly $7,549) Morlytic
Remnants of the Rift $14.99 15 86% 450 $6.7k (exactly $6,746) Bromio
NULLPTR $14.99 12 100% 360 $5.4k (exactly $5,396) Jeferson Silva
Rails Across America older $9.99 18 72% 540 $5.4k (exactly $5,395) Flying Lab Software, ZOOM Platform Medi… (Flying Lab Software, ZOOM Platform Media, Jordan Freeman Group)
Trolls vs Vikings: Reborn $5.99 28 92% 840 $5.0k (exactly $5,032) Megapop
JAIL DICE: Roll to Break $6.99 8 100% 240 $1.7k (exactly $1,678) GyoonyGames
POGO Stadium · EA $12.99 2 100% 60 $779 (exactly $779) Kyoto Entertainment Works Inc.

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