Do I ship it?

Games › Real-Time › Real-Time + Military

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Military Real-Time game?

Real-Time + Military

Only 9 developers shipped a Military 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, Tempest Rising, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 14 more are announced, ×3.5 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: dead, for a 6 / 10 build.

Only 4 developers shipped this in the last year, under the 5 a verdict needs; over 2 years the middle one made $37k against a market of $630. 14 games are announced.

Deciding numbers: median 58.6 times the market baseline, revenue up 10% on the market, 14 announced, ×3.5 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Real-Time + Military
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 9
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $7.5k → $60k → $4.0k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Real-Time + Military: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 9
Bottom 30% $4.0k (exactly $4,047)
Median $37k (exactly $36,826)
Top 25% $759k (exactly $759,410)
Top 5% $12M (exactly $11,770,257)
Developers, 2 yr 9
Released games 62
Announced 14
Effort 6 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $14.99

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 10% on the market, supply 20% fewer developers than the period before.

Free games: 5%, 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
Military
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 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
$14.99 typical
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

Fewer than 10 games in the last 2 years; sentiment and price figures use the all window.

The top 25% priced at $29.99 or above; the middle game at $14.99.

The top 10 games average 83% positive over 166,931 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $4.1k, median $37k, 1 in 4 over $750k, 1 in 20 over $11M.

3 in 10 developers made under $4.1k. 4 in 10 of the 5 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 14 games are announced against 4 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.5 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. + 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

Company of Heroes 2 2013 · $41M Wargame: Red Dragon 2014 · $14M Tempest Rising 2025 · $12M Sea Power : Naval Combat in the Missile Age 2024 · EA · $9.2M Freeman: Guerrilla Warfare 2019 · $8.6M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
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))
Wargame: Red Dragon older $29.99 15,758 88% 473k $14M (exactly $14,177,473) Eugen Systems
Tempest Rising $39.99 9,811 87% 294k $12M (exactly $11,770,257) Slipgate Ironworks™
Sea Power : Naval Combat in the Missile Age · EA $49.99 6,109 90% 183k $9.2M (exactly $9,161,667) Triassic Games
Freeman: Guerrilla Warfare older $24.99 11,489 64% 345k $8.6M (exactly $8,613,303) KK Game Studio
Starship Troopers: Terran Command older $29.99 9,214 87% 276k $8.3M (exactly $8,289,836) The Artistocrats
Call to Arms older $14.99 17,431 80% 523k $7.8M (exactly $7,838,721) Digitalmindsoft
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
Airships: Conquer the Skies older $24.99 6,197 95% 186k $4.6M (exactly $4,645,891) David Stark
Task Force Admiral - Vol.1: American Carrier Battles · EA $39.99 633 87% 19k $759k (exactly $759,410) Drydock Dreams Games
Moduwar · EA $14.99 134 88% 4.0k $60k (exactly $60,260) Biohex Studios
The Legend of Mala Tokmachka $4.99 246 71% 7.4k $37k (exactly $36,826) The Current Thing
Combat Directive : Napoleonic Wars $19.99 36 88% 1.1k $22k (exactly $21,589) Fatice Games
America Against Ants $14.99 9 100% 270 $4.0k (exactly $4,047) Aartform Games, Mark Brendan
Tactics of World War I $8.99 12 58% 360 $3.2k (exactly $3,236) Headless Horseman Games
Millennium Conflict $3.99 17 100% 510 $2.0k (exactly $2,035) Badim

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