Do I ship it?

Games › Real-Time › Real-Time + Management

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Management Real-Time game?

Real-Time + Management

Only 13 developers shipped a Management 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, Endzone 2, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 35 more are announced, ×12 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: dead, for a 6 / 10 build.

Only 3 developers shipped this in the last year, under the 5 a verdict needs; over 2 years the middle one made $33k against a market of $630. 35 games are announced.

Deciding numbers: median 52.4 times the market baseline, revenue down 45% on the market, 35 announced, ×12 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Real-Time + Management
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 13
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $142k → $315k → $231k → $19k
Outcomes for Real-Time + Management: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 13
Bottom 30% $13k (exactly $13,486)
Median $33k (exactly $32,922)
Top 25% $276k (exactly $276,462)
Top 5% $804k (exactly $804,332)
Developers, 2 yr 13
Released games 71
Announced 35
Effort 6 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $12.99

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 45% on the market, supply 70% fewer developers than the period before.

Free games: 10%, 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
Management
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, Management
Price point
$12.99 typical
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 10 games average 68% positive over 3,572 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $14k, median $33k, 1 in 4 over $270k, 1 in 20 over $800k.

3 in 10 developers made under $14k. 5 in 10 of the 12 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 35 games are announced against 3 developers who shipped in the last year, ×12 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Real-Time with a different second tag, 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. + HistoricalPoor odds10 devs · median $52k · 15 announced
  5. + WarPoor odds14 devs · median $37k · 20 announced
  6. + Base BuildingPoor odds21 devs · median $37k · 33 announced
  7. + WargamePoor odds13 devs · median $37k · 17 announced
  8. + PhysicsPoor odds7 devs · median $33k · 13 announced
  9. + Tower DefensePoor odds9 devs · median $32k · 17 announced
  10. + Action RTSPoor odds12 devs · median $31k · 18 announced
  11. + StrategyPoor odds39 devs · median $28k · 75 announced
  12. + RTSPoor odds21 devs · median $22k · 40 announced

All 40 pairs on the Real-Time page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Homeworld 3 2024 · $9.8M Anno 2070™ 2011 · $6.9M Railway Empire 2018 · $6.5M Endzone - A World Apart 2021 · $6.2M Stronghold: Warlords 2021 · $5.3M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Homeworld 3 older $59.99 5,436 38% 163k $9.8M (exactly $9,783,169) Blackbird Interactive
Anno 2070™ older $19.99 11,571 59% 347k $6.9M (exactly $6,939,129) Blue Byte, Related Designs
Railway Empire older $29.99 7,219 82% 217k $6.5M (exactly $6,494,934) Gaming Minds Studios
Endzone - A World Apart older $24.99 8,311 76% 249k $6.2M (exactly $6,230,757) Gentlymad Studios
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
Per Aspera older $29.99 4,105 76% 123k $3.7M (exactly $3,693,268) Tlön Industries
Stronghold 2: Steam Edition older $14.99 4,881 88% 146k $2.2M (exactly $2,194,986) Firefly Studios
EMERGENCY 20 older $29.99 2,078 84% 62k $1.9M (exactly $1,869,577) Sixteen Tons Entertainment
Distant Worlds: Universe older $29.99 1,417 71% 43k $1.3M (exactly $1,274,875) Code Force
Endzone 2 $29.99 894 65% 27k $804k (exactly $804,332) Gentlymad 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
Mini Settlers $12.99 592 85% 18k $231k (exactly $230,702) Knight Owl Games
Final Outpost: Definitive Edition $9.99 208 76% 6.2k $62k (exactly $62,338) Exabyte Games
Genesis of a Small God $17.99 61 80% 1.8k $33k (exactly $32,922) Pierre Nury
Boxing Simulator $7.99 79 79% 2.4k $19k (exactly $18,936) Inogames
uFactory $9.99 62 69% 1.9k $19k (exactly $18,581) Lucid Silence Games
Dungeons & Dragons: Dragonshard $9.99 45 80% 1.4k $13k (exactly $13,486) Liquid Entertainment

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