Games › Real-Time › Real-Time + Tactical
Should I ship a Real-Time Tactical game?
Real-Time + Tactical
Only 15 developers shipped a Real-Time Tactical 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, Task Force Admiral - Vol.1: American Carrier Battles, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 33 more are announced, ×3.7 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $18k, ×28 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $4.1k; 1 in 20 cleared $750k, ×1209 the market median. Revenue is up 50% on the market; 33 games are announced against 9 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $4.0k (exactly $4,047) |
|---|---|
| Median | $18k (exactly $17,810) |
| Top 25% | $85k (exactly $84,544) |
| Top 5% | $759k (exactly $759,410) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 15 |
| Released games | 120 |
| Announced | 33 |
| 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 50% on the market, supply 50% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 8%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- Real-Time, Tactical
- Price point
- $14.99 typical
Why players buy here
The top 10 games average 67% positive over 2,292 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $4.1k. 6 in 10 of the 7 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 33 games are announced against 9 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.7 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Real-Time with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Character CustomizationStrong odds
- + RogueliteFair
- + BuildingPoor odds
- + HistoricalPoor odds
- + WarPoor odds
- + Base BuildingPoor odds
- + WargamePoor odds
- + PhysicsPoor odds
- + Tower DefensePoor odds
- + Action RTSPoor odds
- + StrategyPoor odds
- + RTSPoor odds
Comparable games
Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition 2019 · $167M 
Age of Empires II (Retired) 2013 · $51M 
Company of Heroes 2 2013 · $41M 
Age of Mythology: Extended Edition 2014 · $29M 
Wargame: Red Dragon 2014 · $14M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition | older | $34.99 | 158,931 94% | 4.8M | $167M (exactly $166,829,871) | World's Edge, Forgotten Empires, Captur… (World's Edge, Forgotten Empires, CaptureAge, Tantalus Media, Wicked Witch, Feral Interactive) |
| | Age of Empires II (Retired) | older | $19.99 | 84,818 95% | 2.5M | $51M (exactly $50,865,355) | Skybox Labs, Hidden Path Entertainment,… (Skybox Labs, Hidden Path Entertainment, Ensemble Studios, Forgotten Empires) |
| | 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)) |
| | Age of Mythology: Extended Edition | older | $29.99 | 31,869 93% | 956k | $29M (exactly $28,672,539) | SkyBox Labs, Ensemble Studios, Forgotte… (SkyBox Labs, Ensemble Studios, Forgotten Empires) |
| | Wargame: Red Dragon | older | $29.99 | 15,758 88% | 473k | $14M (exactly $14,177,473) | Eugen Systems |
 | Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II - Anniversary Edition (Classic) | older | $49.99 | 8,084 85% | 243k | $12M (exactly $12,123,575) | Relic Entertainment, Feral Interactive… (Relic Entertainment, Feral Interactive (Mac/Linux)) |
 | Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak | older | $49.99 | 7,800 79% | 234k | $12M (exactly $11,697,660) | Blackbird Interactive |
 | Sins of a Solar Empire II | older | $49.99 | 7,147 83% | 214k | $11M (exactly $10,718,356) | Ironclad Games Corporation, Stardock En… (Ironclad Games Corporation, Stardock Entertainment) |
 | Homeworld 3 | older | $59.99 | 5,436 38% | 163k | $9.8M (exactly $9,783,169) | Blackbird Interactive |
 | Freeman: Guerrilla Warfare | older | $24.99 | 11,489 64% | 345k | $8.6M (exactly $8,613,303) | KK Game Studio |
 | 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 | |
 | Warhammer: Mark of Chaos - Gold Edition (Classic) | $14.99 | 188 96% | 5.6k | $85k (exactly $84,544) | Black Hole Entertainment | |
 | MORSE | $13.99 | 124 93% | 3.7k | $52k (exactly $52,043) | ALJO Games | |
 | 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 | |
 | TFC2: The Fertile Crescent 2 - Collapse of The Bronze Age | · EA | $17.99 | 33 81% | 990 | $18k (exactly $17,810) | Wield Interactive |
 | Fleetbreakers | · EA | $14.99 | 25 96% | 750 | $11k (exactly $11,242) | Last Keep |
 | Yamizome Liberator | $34.95 | 9 66% | 270 | $9.4k (exactly $9,436) | Escu:de |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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