Do I ship it?

GamesReal-Time with PauseReal-Time with Pause + Real Time Tactics

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Real Time Tactics Real-Time with Pause game?

Real-Time with Pause + Real Time Tactics

Only 19 developers shipped a Real Time Tactics Real-Time with Pause 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, Door Kickers 2: Task Force North, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 31 more are announced, ×5.2 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 7 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $16k, ×11 the market's $1.5k for a 7 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $7.2k; 1 in 20 cleared $9.2M, ×6168 the market median. Revenue is up 360% on the market; 31 games are announced against 6 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 11.0 times the market baseline, revenue up 360% on the market, 31 announced, ×5.2 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Real-Time with Pause + Real Time Tactics
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 19
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $9.2k → $479k → $35k → $5.5k → $103k → $15k → $16k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Real-Time with Pause + Real Time Tactics: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 19
Bottom 30% $7.2k (exactly $7,195)
Median $16k (exactly $16,484)
Top 25% $103k (exactly $103,431)
Top 5% $9.2M (exactly $9,239,303)
Developers, 2 yr 19
Released games 79
Announced 31
Effort 7 / 10
AI-buildability Low
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 360% on the market, supply 55% fewer developers than the period before.

Free games: 4%, 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 low: the lowest rating among its tags.

Real-Time with Pause
effort 7 / 10 · low · effort 7 sits in the low band
Real Time Tactics
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
7 / 10 · big single-player or serious online
Systems
Real-Time with Pause, Real Time Tactics; all of the top 25% also carry Action, RTS, Strategy
Price point
$14.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Top-Down, 2D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $14.99.

The top 10 games average 90% positive over 15,379 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $7.2k, median $16k, 1 in 4 over $100k, 1 in 20 over $9.2M.

3 in 10 developers made under $7.2k. 7 in 10 of the 13 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 31 games are announced against 6 developers who shipped in the last year, ×5.2 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Real-Time with Pause with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + CombatStrong odds14 devs · median $15k · 12 announced
  2. + ActionFair16 devs · median $103k · 18 announced
  3. + Open WorldPoor odds8 devs · median $767k · 11 announced
  4. + AdventurePoor odds10 devs · median $561k · 7 announced
  5. + City BuilderPoor odds13 devs · median $215k · 25 announced
  6. + ExplorationPoor odds13 devs · median $215k · 24 announced
  7. + Choices MatterPoor odds9 devs · median $215k · 23 announced
  8. + HistoricalPoor odds14 devs · median $124k · 19 announced
  9. + MilitaryPoor odds11 devs · median $124k · 33 announced
  10. + MedievalPoor odds10 devs · median $87k · 22 announced
  11. + Base BuildingPoor odds20 devs · median $73k · 35 announced
  12. + SurvivalPoor odds20 devs · median $73k · 27 announced

All 41 pairs on the Real-Time with Pause page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Door Kickers 2: Task Force North $24.99 12,324 96% 370k $9.2M (exactly $9,239,303) KillHouse Games
Door Kickers older $19.99 8,041 94% 241k $4.8M (exactly $4,822,188) KillHouse Games
Phantom Brigade older $29.99 4,412 81% 132k $4.0M (exactly $3,969,476) Brace Yourself Games
Steel Division: Normandy 44 older $19.99 4,765 74% 143k $2.9M (exactly $2,857,570) Eugen Systems
Crying Suns older $24.99 3,149 85% 94k $2.4M (exactly $2,360,805) Alt Shift
A Total War Saga: TROY older $19.99 3,324 71% 100k $2.0M (exactly $1,993,403) CREATIVE ASSEMBLY, Feral Interactive (M… (CREATIVE ASSEMBLY, Feral Interactive (Mac))
Tower of Time older $24.99 2,322 82% 70k $1.7M (exactly $1,740,803) Event Horizon
Blitzkrieg 3 older $9.99 5,161 52% 155k $1.5M (exactly $1,546,752) Nival
The DioField Chronicle older $59.99 685 49% 21k $1.2M (exactly $1,232,794) Square Enix, LANCARSE Ltd.
Company of Heroes 3: Final Stand $29.99 1,015 49% 30k $913k (exactly $913,196) Relic Entertainment
Battlestar Galactica: Scattered Hopes $24.99 1,039 76% 31k $779k (exactly $778,938) Alt Shift
Rift Riff $12.99 367 94% 11k $143k (exactly $143,020) Adriaan de Jongh, Sim Kaart, Matthijs K… (Adriaan de Jongh, Sim Kaart, Matthijs Koster, Franz LaZerte, Professional Panda)
Welcome Back, Commander $14.99 230 80% 6.9k $103k (exactly $103,431) S.C. 16 BIT NIGHTS S.R.L.
Riot Operator $14.99 151 25% 4.5k $68k (exactly $67,905) Beta 2 Games
Space Drilling Station · EA $19.99 63 90% 1.9k $38k (exactly $37,781) Ayota Games
On The Western Front $13.99 88 84% 2.6k $37k (exactly $36,934) Aggroblakh
Dustwind: Resistance $19.90 47 80% 1.4k $28k (exactly $28,059) Dustwind Studios, Z-Software
Deadlock Station $9.99 55 80% 1.7k $16k (exactly $16,484) Luxorix Games

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