Do I ship it?

Games › Real Time Tactics › Real Time Tactics + Score Attack

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Score Attack Real Time Tactics?

Real Time Tactics + Score Attack

Of 38 developers who shipped a Score Attack Real Time Tactics 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.. 33 more are announced.

Verdict: dead, for a 6 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $450 in the last 2 years and $300 over 4, against a market of $630 for a 6 / 10 build. 21 developers shipped in the last year and 33 games are announced.

Deciding numbers: median 0.7 times the market baseline, revenue down 30% on the market, 33 announced, ×1.6 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Real Time Tactics + Score Attack
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 38
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $239 → $1.1k → $90 → $478 → $450 → $719 → $59 (still earning) → $269 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Real Time Tactics + Score Attack: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 38
Bottom 30% $119 (exactly $119)
Median $449 (exactly $449)
Top 25% $1.0k (exactly $1,015)
Top 5% $24k (exactly $23,747)
Developers, 2 yr 38
Released games 88
Announced 33
Effort 6 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $4.99

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 30% on the market, supply 25% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 11%, 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 medium: the lowest rating among its tags.

Real Time Tactics
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
Score Attack
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
Systems
Real Time Tactics, Score Attack; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Strategy, Action, Arcade
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $15.99 or above
Art
3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Top-Down, 2D, 3D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $15.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 85% positive over 880 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $120, median $450, 1 in 4 over $1.0k, 1 in 20 over $23k.

3 in 10 developers made under $120. Nearly all of the 20 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 33 games are announced against 21 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + DragonsStrong odds17 devs · median $6.6k · 19 announced
  2. + Outbreak SimFair12 devs · median $1.8k · 14 announced
  3. + HackingFair11 devs · median $987 · 11 announced
  4. + World War IIPoor odds24 devs · median $67k · 35 announced
  5. + Cold WarPoor odds9 devs · median $19k · 16 announced
  6. + HistoricalPoor odds88 devs · median $19k · 154 announced
  7. + Real-Time with PausePoor odds19 devs · median $16k · 31 announced
  8. + Real-TimePoor odds16 devs · median $16k · 26 announced
  9. + MechsPoor odds16 devs · median $13k · 32 announced
  10. + Vehicular CombatPoor odds20 devs · median $9.6k · 50 announced
  11. + God GamePoor odds19 devs · median $7.8k · 32 announced
  12. + Open WorldPoor odds29 devs · median $7.2k · 111 announced

All 176 pairs on the Real Time Tactics page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Element TD 2 - Tower Defense 2021 · $1.3M Axon TD: Uprising - Tower Defense 2024 · $423k Swordship 2022 · $125k Endless ATC 2017 · $123k IRON GUARD: Salvation 2025 · $24k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Element TD 2 - Tower Defense older $14.99 2,848 90% 85k $1.3M (exactly $1,280,746) Element Studios
Axon TD: Uprising - Tower Defense $19.99 706 85% 21k $423k (exactly $423,388) Element Studios
Swordship older $19.99 209 85% 6.3k $125k (exactly $125,337) Digital Kingdom
Endless ATC older $7.99 512 97% 15k $123k (exactly $122,726) startgrid
IRON GUARD: Salvation $17.99 44 93% 1.3k $24k (exactly $23,747) Xlab Digital
Elemental War - A Tower Defense Game older $14.99 22 72% 660 $9.9k (exactly $9,893) Clockwork Origins
Bullet: Surge $15.99 18 94% 540 $8.6k (exactly $8,635) Cerbere Games
EvoWars: New Era $8.99 25 72% 750 $6.7k (exactly $6,742) Night Steed Games
ModernFire · EA $9.99 21 90% 630 $6.3k (exactly $6,294) FireLineGames
Package Rush older $4.99 37 89% 1.1k $5.5k (exactly $5,539) Campfire Studio
Bass Defense - Rhythm Meets Strategy $5.99 17 100% 510 $3.1k (exactly $3,055) WOMBEX Games
Combine 2 Pumpkins $4.99 19 100% 570 $2.8k (exactly $2,844) 2Z
Orbital Dispatch $8.99 5 100% 150 $1.3k (exactly $1,348) Christian Fischer
RC: Car Maniacs $4.99 8 62% 240 $1.2k (exactly $1,198) GH Games
Mad World Survivors $1.99 17 64% 510 $1.0k (exactly $1,015) BadWolf Games

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