Do I ship it?

Games › Real Time Tactics › Real Time Tactics + Top-Down Shooter

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Top-Down Shooter Real Time Tactics?

Real Time Tactics + Top-Down Shooter

Of 43 developers who shipped a Top-Down Shooter 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.. 64 more are announced, ×2.9 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: dead, for a 6 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $420 in the last 2 years and $450 over 4, against a market of $630 for a 6 / 10 build. 22 developers shipped in the last year and 64 games are announced.

Deciding numbers: median 0.7 times the market baseline, revenue down 40% on the market, 64 announced, ×2.9 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Real Time Tactics + Top-Down Shooter
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 43
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $269 → $25k → $1.1k → $60 → $3.3k → $208 → $479 (still earning) → $897 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Real Time Tactics + Top-Down Shooter: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 43
Bottom 30% $59 (exactly $59)
Median $419 (exactly $419)
Top 25% $3.3k (exactly $3,297)
Top 5% $278k (exactly $277,915)
Developers, 2 yr 43
Released games 113
Announced 64
Effort 6 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $7.99

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 40% on the market, supply as many developers as the period before.

Free games: 21%, 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
Top-Down Shooter
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, Top-Down Shooter; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Strategy, Action, Combat
Price point
$7.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 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 $14.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.

The top 10 games average 93% positive over 14,819 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $59, median $420, 1 in 4 over $3.2k, 1 in 20 over $270k.

3 in 10 developers made under $59. 8 in 10 of the 28 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 64 games are announced against 22 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.9 per shipper.

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

Call to Arms - Gates of Hell: Ostfront 2021 · $34M Aliens: Dark Descent 2023 · $18M Door Kickers 2: Task Force North 2025 · $9.2M Door Kickers 2014 · $4.8M Taur 2020 · $1.5M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Call to Arms - Gates of Hell: Ostfront older $34.99 32,183 85% 965k $34M (exactly $33,782,495) Barbedwire Studios, Digitalmindsoft
Aliens: Dark Descent older $39.99 15,310 87% 459k $18M (exactly $18,367,407) Tindalos Interactive
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
Taur older $24.99 2,011 79% 60k $1.5M (exactly $1,507,647) Echo Entertainment
Red Solstice 2: Survivors older $14.99 2,585 70% 78k $1.2M (exactly $1,162,474) Ironward
Cavalry Girls older $11.99 1,877 88% 56k $675k (exactly $675,157) 中子星游戏研究所
No Plan B older $14.99 761 86% 23k $342k (exactly $342,222) GFX47
Trench Lord: Eastern Front $11.99 774 83% 23k $278k (exactly $278,408) Tracer Studio, LING YUN CO.,LTD.
Castle Of Alchemists $14.99 618 80% 19k $278k (exactly $277,915) Team Machiavelli
Phantom Squad $13.99 416 80% 12k $175k (exactly $174,595) Ctrl Freak
PROHIBEAST $34.99 121 57% 3.6k $127k (exactly $127,014) SUPER AC
Desperate Place $10.99 253 66% 7.6k $83k (exactly $83,414) BruceGalaxy
Antivirus Girl $7.99 169 88% 5.1k $41k (exactly $40,509) Chowbie
Kill A Million Rats $10.99 64 89% 1.9k $21k (exactly $21,101) Nerdook Productions
Blacklist Brigade $9.99 50 94% 1.5k $15k (exactly $14,985) Goat Forest Games
Status One $14.99 30 73% 900 $13k (exactly $13,491) LastCall Studio

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