Do I ship it?

Games › RTS › RTS + Incremental

Specimen · observed

Should I ship an Incremental RTS?

RTS + Incremental

Of 34 developers who shipped an Incremental RTS 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.. 39 more are announced, ×2.2 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: dead, for a 7 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $180 in the last 2 years and $210 over 4, against a market of $1.5k for a 7 / 10 build. 18 developers shipped in the last year and 39 games are announced.

Deciding numbers: median 0.1 times the market baseline, revenue up 110% on the market, 39 announced, ×2.2 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
RTS + Incremental
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 34
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $210 → $0 → $269 → $179 → $3.2k → $210 (still earning) → $359 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for RTS + Incremental: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 34
Bottom 30% $89 (exactly $89)
Median $179 (exactly $179)
Top 25% $3.2k (exactly $3,164)
Top 5% $21k (exactly $21,180)
Developers, 2 yr 34
Released games 87
Announced 39
Effort 7 / 10
AI-buildability Low
Typical price $3.99

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 110% on the market, supply 15% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 15%, 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 low: the lowest rating among its tags.

RTS
effort 7 / 10 · low · effort 7 sits in the low band
Incremental
effort 1 / 10 · high · formulas and upgrade tables

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
7 / 10 · big single-player or serious online
Systems
RTS, Incremental; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Strategy, Management, Resource Management
Price point
$3.99 typical · top 25% priced $9.99 or above
Art
3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Minimalist
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $9.99 or above; the middle game at $3.99.

The top 10 games average 73% positive over 978 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $89, median $180, 1 in 4 over $3.1k, 1 in 20 over $21k.

3 in 10 developers made under $89. All of the 19 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 39 games are announced against 18 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.2 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

RTS with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + RomeFair12 devs · median $64k · 13 announced
  2. + Outbreak SimFair16 devs · median $2.6k · 14 announced
  3. + HorrorFair20 devs · median $2.4k · 27 announced
  4. + NavalFair15 devs · median $2.4k · 21 announced
  5. + TabletopFair25 devs · median $1.9k · 33 announced
  6. + SportsLong shot19 devs · median $861 · 9 announced
  7. + PuzzleLong shot48 devs · median $479 · 40 announced
  8. + World War IIPoor odds23 devs · median $105k · 38 announced
  9. + Real-Time with PausePoor odds28 devs · median $64k · 41 announced
  10. + Open WorldPoor odds45 devs · median $35k · 100 announced
  11. + Colony SimPoor odds87 devs · median $31k · 159 announced
  12. + HistoricalPoor odds108 devs · median $30k · 180 announced

All 149 pairs on the RTS page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Age of Clicks 2026 · EA · $184k Reprisal Universe 2014 · $71k The Unexpected Quest 2020 · $65k Shop Tycoon: Prepare your wallet 2021 · $63k Flooded 2023 · $45k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Age of Clicks · EA $12.99 472 65% 14k $184k (exactly $183,938) David Ius
Reprisal Universe older $6.99 337 75% 10k $71k (exactly $70,669) electrolyte
The Unexpected Quest older $12.99 166 77% 5.0k $65k (exactly $64,690) Rionix
Shop Tycoon: Prepare your wallet older $5.99 352 74% 11k $63k (exactly $63,254) Airem
Flooded older $12.99 116 78% 3.5k $45k (exactly $45,205) Artificial Disasters
Lazy Galaxy 2 older $7.99 167 77% 5.0k $40k (exactly $40,030) Coldwild Games
Lazy Galaxy older $4.99 188 78% 5.6k $28k (exactly $28,144) Coldwild Games, Vladimir Slav, Elena Na… (Coldwild Games, Vladimir Slav, Elena Nazarenko)
扫雷冒险谭2 ~露露姆的冒险~ older $9.99 92 78% 2.8k $28k (exactly $27,572) CelLab
The First Million $6.99 101 75% 3.0k $21k (exactly $21,180) Sonderland
Destroy! Mosaic! $4.99 135 77% 4.1k $20k (exactly $20,210) 悠悠幽靈工作室
Neon Ascending $3.99 90 82% 2.7k $11k (exactly $10,773) TheCarmineDepth
转生魔塔 $11.99 26 88% 780 $9.4k (exactly $9,352) Zeros
Cat Guardian $7.99 19 84% 570 $4.6k (exactly $4,554) Yaeegy
Idle Streaming Bonanza $4.99 30 93% 900 $4.5k (exactly $4,491) Anarky Games
Election Tycoon: Trump vs Harris $9.99 13 84% 390 $3.9k (exactly $3,896) World Map Tycoon
Dune Rancher $2.99 39 76% 1.2k $3.5k (exactly $3,498) Jestercraft
Buttons Up! $1.99 53 84% 1.6k $3.2k (exactly $3,164) Jestercraft

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