Do I ship it?

Games › Real Time Tactics › Real Time Tactics + Investigation

Specimen · observed

Should I ship an Investigation Real Time Tactics?

Real Time Tactics + Investigation

Only 15 developers shipped an Investigation Real Time Tactics 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, MECCHA CHAMELEON, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 21 more are announced.

Verdict: dead, for a 6 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $120 in the last 2 years and $450 over 4, against a market of $630 for a 6 / 10 build. 12 developers shipped in the last year and 21 games are announced.

Deciding numbers: median 0.2 times the market baseline, revenue down 50% on the market, 21 announced, ×1.8 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Real Time Tactics + Investigation
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 15
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $449 → $449 → $120 (still earning) → $0 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Real Time Tactics + Investigation: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 15
Bottom 30% $0 (exactly $0)
Median $120 (exactly $120)
Top 25% $479 (exactly $479)
Top 5% $14M (exactly $14,150,656)
Developers, 2 yr 15
Released games 32
Announced 21
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 50% on the market, supply 300% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 9%, 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
Investigation
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, Investigation; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry FPS, Hidden Object, Party Game
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $9.99 or above
Art
5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with First-Person, 3D, Comedy
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $9.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 8 games average 87% positive over 95,367 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $50, median $120, 1 in 4 over $470, 1 in 20 over $14M.

3 in 10 developers made under $50. 21 games are announced against 12 developers who shipped in the last year.

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

MECCHA CHAMELEON 2026 · $14M LOCKDOWN Protocol 2025 · $5.0M At Dead Of Night 2020 · $1.6M Counter Terrorist Agency 2019 · $287k [Chilla's Art] The Caregiver | 終焉介護 2021 · $65k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
MECCHA CHAMELEON $5.99 78,746 87% 2.4M $14M (exactly $14,150,656) lemorion_1224
LOCKDOWN Protocol $9.99 16,605 86% 498k $5.0M (exactly $4,976,518) Mirage Creative Lab
At Dead Of Night older $15.99 3,289 94% 99k $1.6M (exactly $1,577,733) Baggy Cat Ltd.
Counter Terrorist Agency older $19.99 479 43% 14k $287k (exactly $287,256) Play2Chill
[Chilla's Art] The Caregiver | 終焉介護 older $4.99 431 80% 13k $65k (exactly $64,521) Chilla's Art
City Eye older $9.99 73 32% 2.2k $22k (exactly $21,878) ·
Code 3: Police Response · EA older $14.99 36 63% 1.1k $16k (exactly $16,189) 109 Below
SOOT older $19.99 7 85% 210 $4.2k (exactly $4,198) Ceiba Software and Arts
VOENKOMAT older $1.99 46 91% 1.4k $2.7k (exactly $2,746) pvt. Singer
Umbra older $3.99 22 81% 660 $2.6k (exactly $2,633) Leslie Phillips, QuantuMedia
Project Corner $9.99 4 100% 120 $1.2k (exactly $1,199) Triny Games
Hello Operator $7.99 2 0% 60 $479 (exactly $479) Leapfrog Studio LLC
Going Dark $4.99 3 100% 90 $449 (exactly $449) Sergiusz Stein
Nuckelavee $4.99 3 100% 90 $449 (exactly $449) Peatfire Games
Slumber Party $4.99 3 66% 90 $449 (exactly $449) 70BB
Silent Howl $3.99 1 100% 30 $120 (exactly $120) Yorbi
Gravity Control $2.99 0 0% 0 $0 (exactly $0) Martin Reinok
BETRAYED · EA $9.99 0 0% 0 $0 (exactly $0) Almost Good Games

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