Games › Real-Time with Pause › Real-Time with Pause + Sci-fi
Should I ship a Sci-fi Real-Time with Pause game?
Real-Time with Pause + Sci-fi
Only 12 developers shipped a Sci-fi 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, Void War, 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, ×4.1 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 $6.8k; 1 in 20 cleared $2.1M, ×1462 the market median. Revenue is up 175% on the market; 33 games are announced against 8 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $6.7k (exactly $6,746) |
|---|---|
| Median | $16k (exactly $16,484) |
| Top 25% | $274k (exactly $273,867) |
| Top 5% | $2.2M (exactly $2,190,704) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 12 |
| Released games | 100 |
| Announced | 33 |
| 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 175% on the market, supply 60% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 3%, excluded from money figures.
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
- Sci-fi
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 7 / 10 · big single-player or serious online
- Systems
- Real-Time with Pause
- Price point
- $14.99 typical
Why players buy here
The top 10 games average 89% positive over 5,590 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $6.8k. 6 in 10 of the 5 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 33 games are announced against 8 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.1 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Real-Time with Pause with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + CombatStrong odds
- + ActionFair
- + Open WorldPoor odds
- + AdventurePoor odds
- + City BuilderPoor odds
- + ExplorationPoor odds
- + Choices MatterPoor odds
- + HistoricalPoor odds
- + MilitaryPoor odds
- + MedievalPoor odds
- + Base BuildingPoor odds
- + SurvivalPoor odds
Comparable games
Stellaris 2016 · $210M 
FTL: Faster Than Light 2012 · $19M 
Mass Effect (2007) 2008 · $13M 
STAR WARS™ Knights of the Old Republic™ 2009 · $8.5M 
The Universim 2024 · $7.6M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Stellaris | older | $49.99 | 139,718 85% | 4.2M | $210M (exactly $209,535,085) | Paradox Development Studio |
| | FTL: Faster Than Light | older | $9.99 | 62,763 94% | 1.9M | $19M (exactly $18,810,071) | Subset Games |
| | Mass Effect (2007) | older | $29.99 | 14,871 93% | 446k | $13M (exactly $13,379,439) | BioWare |
| | STAR WARS™ Knights of the Old Republic™ | older | $9.99 | 28,518 90% | 856k | $8.5M (exactly $8,546,845) | BioWare, Aspyr (Mac) |
| | The Universim | older | $29.99 | 8,465 79% | 254k | $7.6M (exactly $7,615,960) | Crytivo |
 | Cosmoteer: Starship Architect & Commander | · EA older | $19.99 | 12,013 94% | 360k | $7.2M (exactly $7,204,196) | Walternate Realities |
 | STAR WARS™ Knights of the Old Republic™ II - The Sith Lords™ | older | $9.99 | 22,357 93% | 671k | $6.7M (exactly $6,700,393) | Obsidian Entertainment, Aspyr (Mac, Lin… (Obsidian Entertainment, Aspyr (Mac, Linux, & Windows Update)) |
 | Distant Worlds 2 | older | $49.99 | 2,653 72% | 80k | $4.0M (exactly $3,978,704) | CodeForce |
 | Phantom Brigade | older | $29.99 | 4,412 81% | 132k | $4.0M (exactly $3,969,476) | Brace Yourself Games |
 | Supreme Commander: Forged Alliance | older | $12.99 | 9,919 96% | 298k | $3.9M (exactly $3,865,434) | Gas Powered Games |
 | Void War | $19.99 | 3,653 94% | 110k | $2.2M (exactly $2,190,704) | Tundra | |
 | Battlestar Galactica: Scattered Hopes | $24.99 | 1,039 76% | 31k | $779k (exactly $778,938) | Alt Shift | |
 | Solar Nations 2 | · EA | $14.99 | 609 85% | 18k | $274k (exactly $273,867) | Flomgus Games |
 | Solar Wave | · EA | $17.99 | 80 75% | 2.4k | $43k (exactly $43,176) | SavGus Studio |
 | Space Drilling Station | · EA | $19.99 | 63 90% | 1.9k | $38k (exactly $37,781) | Ayota Games |
 | Deadlock Station | $9.99 | 55 80% | 1.7k | $16k (exactly $16,484) | Luxorix Games | |
 | Deep Space Outpost | $15.99 | 32 71% | 960 | $15k (exactly $15,350) | Niris Games | |
 | Infest | $14.99 | 24 75% | 720 | $11k (exactly $10,793) | Chute Apps | |
 | Remnants of the Rift | $14.99 | 15 86% | 450 | $6.7k (exactly $6,746) | Bromio | |
 | Space Menace 2 | $9.99 | 20 75% | 600 | $6.0k (exactly $5,994) | Only4Gamers |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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