Do I ship it?

GamesReal-TimeReal-Time + Historical

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Historical Real-Time game?

Real-Time + Historical

Only 10 developers shipped a Historical 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, Task Force Admiral - Vol.1: American Carrier Battles, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 15 more are announced, ×3.0 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $52k, ×83 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $18k; 1 in 20 cleared $750k, ×1209 the market median. Revenue is up 335% on the market; 15 games are announced against 5 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 82.9 times the market baseline, revenue up 335% on the market, 15 announced, ×3.0 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Real-Time + Historical
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 10
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $4.8k → $7.5k → $276k
Outcomes for Real-Time + Historical: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 10
Bottom 30% $18k (exactly $17,810)
Median $52k (exactly $52,043)
Top 25% $276k (exactly $276,462)
Top 5% $759k (exactly $759,410)
Developers, 2 yr 10
Released games 63
Announced 15
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 up 335% on the market, supply as many developers as the period before.

Free games: 8%, 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
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
Historical
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
Price point
$19.99 typical
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 10 games average 66% positive over 2,053 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $18k, median $52k, 1 in 4 over $270k, 1 in 20 over $750k.

3 in 10 developers made under $18k. 6 in 10 of the 5 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 15 games are announced against 5 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.0 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Real-Time with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + Character CustomizationStrong odds7 devs · median $2.0k · 6 announced
  2. + RogueliteFair11 devs · median $11k · 14 announced
  3. + BuildingPoor odds14 devs · median $62k · 20 announced
  4. + WarPoor odds14 devs · median $37k · 20 announced
  5. + Base BuildingPoor odds21 devs · median $37k · 33 announced
  6. + WargamePoor odds13 devs · median $37k · 17 announced
  7. + PhysicsPoor odds7 devs · median $33k · 13 announced
  8. + Tower DefensePoor odds9 devs · median $32k · 17 announced
  9. + Action RTSPoor odds12 devs · median $31k · 18 announced
  10. + StrategyPoor odds39 devs · median $28k · 75 announced
  11. + RTSPoor odds21 devs · median $22k · 40 announced
  12. + SimulationPoor odds25 devs · median $22k · 43 announced

All 40 pairs on the Real-Time page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition older $34.99 158,931 94% 4.8M $167M (exactly $166,829,871) World's Edge, Forgotten Empires, Captur… (World's Edge, Forgotten Empires, CaptureAge, Tantalus Media, Wicked Witch, Feral Interactive)
Age of Empires II (Retired) older $19.99 84,818 95% 2.5M $51M (exactly $50,865,355) Skybox Labs, Hidden Path Entertainment,… (Skybox Labs, Hidden Path Entertainment, Ensemble Studios, Forgotten Empires)
Company of Heroes 2 older $19.99 68,909 80% 2.1M $41M (exactly $41,324,727) Relic Entertainment, Feral Interactive… (Relic Entertainment, Feral Interactive (Mac), Feral Interactive (Linux))
Age of Mythology: Extended Edition older $29.99 31,869 93% 956k $29M (exactly $28,672,539) SkyBox Labs, Ensemble Studios, Forgotte… (SkyBox Labs, Ensemble Studios, Forgotten Empires)
Age of Empires: Definitive Edition older $19.99 14,315 84% 429k $8.6M (exactly $8,584,706) World's Edge, Forgotten Empires, Tantal… (World's Edge, Forgotten Empires, Tantalus)
Rise of Nations: Extended Edition older $19.99 13,358 94% 401k $8.0M (exactly $8,010,793) SkyBox Labs, Big Huge Games
Railway Empire older $29.99 7,219 82% 217k $6.5M (exactly $6,494,934) Gaming Minds Studios
Ancestors Legacy older $34.99 5,794 80% 174k $6.1M (exactly $6,081,962) Destructive Creations
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
Task Force Admiral - Vol.1: American Carrier Battles · EA $39.99 633 87% 19k $759k (exactly $759,410) Drydock Dreams Games
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
Outside the Blocks $14.99 192 87% 5.8k $86k (exactly $86,342) Michał Kubas
MORSE $13.99 124 93% 3.7k $52k (exactly $52,043) ALJO Games
Combat Directive : Napoleonic Wars $19.99 36 88% 1.1k $22k (exactly $21,589) Fatice Games
TFC2: The Fertile Crescent 2 - Collapse of The Bronze Age · EA $17.99 33 81% 990 $18k (exactly $17,810) Wield Interactive
Fall Of The MS Estonia $9.99 22 72% 660 $6.6k (exactly $6,593) Interactive Gaming Studios
Maximilian Spee · EA $39.99 3 33% 90 $3.6k (exactly $3,599) EUGENE LOPATIN
Tactics of World War I $8.99 12 58% 360 $3.2k (exactly $3,236) Headless Horseman Games

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