Should I ship a Mining RTS?
RTS + Mining
Only 15 developers shipped a Mining RTS 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, Starminer, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 28 more are announced, ×2.5 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 7 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $6.3k, ×4.2 the market's $1.5k for a 7 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $900; 1 in 20 cleared $1.6M, ×1092 the market median. Revenue is down 35% on the market; 28 games are announced against 11 developers who shipped in the last year.
not enough cohorts to draw
| Bottom 30% | $898 (exactly $898) |
|---|---|
| Median | $6.3k (exactly $6,287) |
| Top 25% | $131k (exactly $131,290) |
| Top 5% | $1.6M (exactly $1,635,655) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 15 |
| Released games | 39 |
| Announced | 28 |
| Effort | 7 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Low |
| Typical price | $9.99 |
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 35% on the market, supply 175% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 13%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is low: the lowest rating among its tags.
What it takes
- Effort
- 7 / 10 · big single-player or serious online
- Systems
- RTS, Mining; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Economy, Management, Sandbox
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $29.99 or above
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $29.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 69% positive over 3,512 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $900. 9 in 10 of the 7 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 28 games are announced against 11 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.5 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
RTS with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + RomeFair
- + Outbreak SimFair
- + HorrorFair
- + NavalFair
- + TabletopFair
- + SportsLong shot
- + PuzzleLong shot
- + World War IIPoor odds
- + Real-Time with PausePoor odds
- + Open WorldPoor odds
- + Colony SimPoor odds
- + HistoricalPoor odds
Comparable games
Starminer 2026 · EA · $1.6M 
Industry Giant 4.0 2025 · $379k 
IDUN - Frontline Survival 2025 · $308k 
Void Destroyer 2 2020 · $195k 
Beneath the Mountain 2024 · $147k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Starminer | · EA | $29.99 | 1,818 72% | 55k | $1.6M (exactly $1,635,655) | CoolAndGoodGames |
| | Industry Giant 4.0 | $24.99 | 506 33% | 15k | $379k (exactly $379,348) | Don VS Dodo | |
| | IDUN - Frontline Survival | $14.99 | 685 77% | 21k | $308k (exactly $308,044) | IDUN Interactive | |
| | Void Destroyer 2 | older | $9.99 | 652 80% | 20k | $195k (exactly $195,404) | Iteration 11 |
| | Beneath the Mountain | older | $24.99 | 196 63% | 5.9k | $147k (exactly $146,941) | Omnis Rector Studios |
 | Deep Corp | · EA | $11.99 | 365 89% | 11k | $131k (exactly $131,290) | KishMish Games |
 | Shrot | older | $6.99 | 109 89% | 3.3k | $23k (exactly $22,857) | Spytihněv |
 | Flow Of War | $12.99 | 40 85% | 1.2k | $16k (exactly $15,588) | Rongcon Games | |
 | Fantasy World / 幻想世界 | $19.99 | 14 71% | 420 | $8.4k (exactly $8,396) | Fantasy Studio | |
 | Harvest Village | $6.99 | 31 80% | 930 | $6.5k (exactly $6,501) | Musa GUNGOR | |
 | Orcdom | $4.99 | 42 78% | 1.3k | $6.3k (exactly $6,287) | GAGA | |
 | Apocalypse Factory | · EA | $9.99 | 8 50% | 240 | $2.4k (exactly $2,398) | Mind Leak |
 | Starlight Mining Company | $9.99 | 3 66% | 90 | $899 (exactly $899) | Glophouse Labs LLC |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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