Games › Real Time Tactics › Real Time Tactics + Sandbox
Should I ship a Real Time Tactics Sandbox?
Real Time Tactics + Sandbox
Of 90 developers who shipped a Real Time Tactics Sandbox in the last 2 years: 3 in 10 made under est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method., the middle one made est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method., 1 in 4 cleared est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method., 1 in 20 cleared est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 168 more are announced, ×3.4 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $3.3k, ×5.3 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $600; 1 in 20 cleared $1.8M, ×2905 the market median. Revenue is down 70% on the market; 168 games are announced against 50 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $599 (exactly $599) |
|---|---|
| Median | $3.3k (exactly $3,297) |
| Top 25% | $85k (exactly $85,443) |
| Top 5% | $1.8M (exactly $1,824,433) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 90 |
| Released games | 270 |
| Announced | 168 |
| Effort | 6 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| 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 70% on the market, supply 25% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 7%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Real Time Tactics
- effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
- Sandbox
- effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- Real Time Tactics, Sandbox; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Strategy, Simulation, RTS
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $29.99 or above
- Art
- 3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $29.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 85% positive over 47,393 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $600. 6 in 10 of the 41 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 168 games are announced against 50 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.4 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Real Time Tactics with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + DragonsStrong odds
- + Outbreak SimFair
- + HackingFair
- + World War IIPoor odds
- + Cold WarPoor odds
- + HistoricalPoor odds
- + Real-Time with PausePoor odds
- + Real-TimePoor odds
- + MechsPoor odds
- + Vehicular CombatPoor odds
- + God GamePoor odds
- + Open WorldPoor odds
Comparable games
Kenshi 2018 · $89M 
Total War: THREE KINGDOMS 2019 · $76M 
Arma Reforger 2023 · $62M 
Total War: MEDIEVAL II – Definitive Edition 2006 · $16M 
Going Medieval 2026 · $15M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Kenshi | older | $29.99 | 98,451 95% | 3.0M | $89M (exactly $88,576,365) | Lo-Fi Games |
| | Total War: THREE KINGDOMS | older | $39.99 | 63,110 82% | 1.9M | $76M (exactly $75,713,067) | CREATIVE ASSEMBLY, Feral Interactive (M… (CREATIVE ASSEMBLY, Feral Interactive (Mac), Feral Interactive (Linux)) |
| | Arma Reforger | older | $39.99 | 51,613 80% | 1.5M | $62M (exactly $61,920,116) | Bohemia Interactive |
| | Total War: MEDIEVAL II – Definitive Edition | older | $19.99 | 27,319 95% | 820k | $16M (exactly $16,383,204) | CREATIVE ASSEMBLY, Feral Interactive (M… (CREATIVE ASSEMBLY, Feral Interactive (Mac), Feral Interactive (Linux)) |
| | Going Medieval | $29.99 | 17,032 88% | 511k | $15M (exactly $15,323,690) | Foxy Voxel | |
 | Sea Power : Naval Combat in the Missile Age | · EA | $49.99 | 6,109 90% | 183k | $9.2M (exactly $9,161,667) | Triassic Games |
 | A Total War Saga: THRONES OF BRITANNIA | older | $19.99 | 12,326 70% | 370k | $7.4M (exactly $7,391,902) | CREATIVE ASSEMBLY, Feral Interactive (M… (CREATIVE ASSEMBLY, Feral Interactive (Mac), Feral Interactive (Linux)) |
 | Ultimate Admiral: Dreadnoughts | older | $34.99 | 6,664 62% | 200k | $7.0M (exactly $6,995,201) | Game-Labs |
 | Stronghold Crusader: Definitive Edition | $19.99 | 10,627 92% | 319k | $6.4M (exactly $6,373,012) | Firefly Studios | |
 | Nuclear Option | · EA older | $19.99 | 10,275 95% | 308k | $6.2M (exactly $6,161,917) | Shockfront Studios |
 | Age of Reforging: The Freelands | $29.99 | 2,291 71% | 69k | $2.1M (exactly $2,061,213) | PersonaeGame Studio | |
 | Rising Front | $14.99 | 4,057 88% | 122k | $1.8M (exactly $1,824,433) | Sandstorm Studios Inc. | |
 | Ascension | · EA | $19.99 | 2,437 60% | 73k | $1.5M (exactly $1,461,469) | Element Game 微元游戏 |
 | ERA ONE | · EA | $29.99 | 1,575 86% | 47k | $1.4M (exactly $1,417,028) | Team Complex LTD |
 | Empire of the Ants | $39.99 | 931 73% | 28k | $1.1M (exactly $1,116,921) | Tower Five | |
 | Crown and Adventure | $19.99 | 1,693 61% | 51k | $1.0M (exactly $1,015,292) | C3D Games | |
 | Sudden Strike 5 | $49.99 | 641 75% | 19k | $961k (exactly $961,308) | Kite Games |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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