Games › RTS › RTS + Perma Death
Should I ship a Perma Death RTS?
RTS + Perma Death
Only 13 developers shipped a Perma Death 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, Xenopurge, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 27 more are announced, ×4.5 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 7 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $720, ×0.5 the market's $1.5k for a 7 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $300. 27 games are announced against 6 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.5 per shipper, while revenue is up 215% on the market.
| Bottom 30% | $300 (exactly $300) |
|---|---|
| Median | $719 (exactly $719) |
| Top 25% | $8.9k (exactly $8,902) |
| Top 5% | $157k (exactly $156,999) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 13 |
| Released games | 48 |
| Announced | 27 |
| Effort | 7 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Low |
| Typical price | $6.99 |
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 215% on the market, supply 15% fewer developers than the period before.
Free games: 6%, excluded from money figures.
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
- Perma Death
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 7 / 10 · big single-player or serious online
- Systems
- RTS, Perma Death
- Price point
- $6.99 typical
Why players buy here
The top 10 games average 83% positive over 620 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $300. All of the 7 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 27 games are announced against 6 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.5 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
Crying Suns 2019 · $2.4M 
Infectonator: Survivors 2016 · $299k 
Battlevoid: Harbinger 2016 · $280k 
Xenopurge 2025 · $157k 
Chromosome Evil 2022 · $150k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Crying Suns | older | $24.99 | 3,149 85% | 94k | $2.4M (exactly $2,360,805) | Alt Shift |
| | Infectonator: Survivors | older | $9.99 | 997 67% | 30k | $299k (exactly $298,801) | Toge Productions |
| | Battlevoid: Harbinger | older | $9.99 | 933 79% | 28k | $280k (exactly $279,620) | Bugbyte Ltd. |
| | Xenopurge | $12.49 | 419 84% | 13k | $157k (exactly $156,999) | Traptics | |
| | Chromosome Evil | older | $14.99 | 334 81% | 10k | $150k (exactly $150,200) | S.C. 16 BIT NIGHTS S.R.L. |
 | Skirmish Line | older | $9.99 | 353 87% | 11k | $106k (exactly $105,794) | The Snarktopus |
 | XO | · EA older | $19.99 | 82 87% | 2.5k | $49k (exactly $49,175) | Jumpdrive Studios |
 | Deadnaut | older | $9.99 | 128 67% | 3.8k | $38k (exactly $38,362) | Screwfly Studios |
 | Role of Hex | older | $9.99 | 93 69% | 2.8k | $28k (exactly $27,872) | Verde |
 | Status One | $14.99 | 30 73% | 900 | $13k (exactly $13,491) | LastCall Studio | |
 | Neon Ascending | $3.99 | 90 82% | 2.7k | $11k (exactly $10,773) | TheCarmineDepth | |
 | One King Is Enough | $10.99 | 27 77% | 810 | $8.9k (exactly $8,902) | INVISIBLE GAMES | |
 | Tribe Nation | $9.99 | 24 79% | 720 | $7.2k (exactly $7,193) | Random Worlds s.r.o. | |
 | Who's beast | $1.99 | 21 100% | 630 | $1.3k (exactly $1,254) | Progrediens Studio | |
 | HyperCoven | $5.99 | 4 100% | 120 | $719 (exactly $719) | Hyperkobel | |
 | This sect accepts female disciples only | $8.99 | 2 50% | 60 | $539 (exactly $539) | sln | |
 | Hunting Pack | $6.99 | 2 100% | 60 | $419 (exactly $419) | Vaeril Games | |
 | Coaster Clash 2k99 - Roller Coaster Defense | $9.99 | 1 100% | 30 | $300 (exactly $300) | D4Y |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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