Games › Real-Time with Pause › Real-Time with Pause + Tactical
Should I ship a Tactical Real-Time with Pause game?
Real-Time with Pause + Tactical
Of 24 developers who shipped a Tactical Real-Time with Pause game 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.. 40 more are announced, ×3.3 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 $6.0k; 1 in 20 cleared $9.8M, ×6549 the market median. Revenue is up 200% on the market; 40 games are announced against 12 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $6.0k (exactly $5,994) |
|---|---|
| Median | $16k (exactly $16,484) |
| Top 25% | $779k (exactly $778,938) |
| Top 5% | $9.8M (exactly $9,810,329) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 24 |
| Released games | 113 |
| Announced | 40 |
| Effort | 7 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Low |
| Typical price | $13.99 |
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 200% on the market, supply as many developers as the period before.
Free games: 2%, 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
- Tactical
- effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 7 / 10 · big single-player or serious online
- Systems
- Real-Time with Pause, Tactical; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Strategy, RTS, Simulation
- Price point
- $13.99 typical · top 25% priced $29.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Difficult
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $29.99 or above; the middle game at $13.99.
The top 10 games average 87% positive over 38,729 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $6.0k. 7 in 10 of the 12 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 40 games are announced against 12 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.3 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Real-Time with Pause with a different second tag, 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
Hearts of Iron IV 2016 · $412M 
They Are Billions 2019 · $42M 
Company of Heroes 2 2013 · $41M 
Dragon Age: Origins - Ultimate Edition 2010 · $26M 
FTL: Faster Than Light 2012 · $19M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Hearts of Iron IV | older | $49.99 | 274,901 90% | 8.2M | $412M (exactly $412,269,030) | Paradox Development Studio |
| | They Are Billions | older | $29.99 | 46,223 85% | 1.4M | $42M (exactly $41,586,833) | Numantian Games |
| | Company of Heroes 2 | older | $19.99 | 68,909 80% | 2.1M | $41M (exactly $41,324,727) | Relic Entertainment, Feral Interactive… (Relic Entertainment, Feral Interactive (Mac), Feral Interactive (Linux)) |
| | Dragon Age: Origins - Ultimate Edition | older | $29.99 | 28,721 85% | 862k | $26M (exactly $25,840,284) | BioWare |
| | FTL: Faster Than Light | older | $9.99 | 62,763 94% | 1.9M | $19M (exactly $18,810,071) | Subset Games |
 | Terra Invicta | $39.99 | 9,057 80% | 272k | $11M (exactly $10,865,683) | Pavonis Interactive | |
 | Diplomacy is Not an Option | $29.99 | 10,904 85% | 327k | $9.8M (exactly $9,810,329) | Door 407 | |
 | Steel Division 2 | older | $39.99 | 8,061 79% | 242k | $9.7M (exactly $9,670,782) | Eugen Systems |
 | 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 |
 | Void War | $19.99 | 3,653 94% | 110k | $2.2M (exactly $2,190,704) | Tundra | |
 | 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 | |
 | States of Power | $11.99 | 344 88% | 10k | $124k (exactly $123,737) | Sarunas | |
 | Welcome Back, Commander | $14.99 | 230 80% | 6.9k | $103k (exactly $103,431) | S.C. 16 BIT NIGHTS S.R.L. | |
 | Elengard: Ascension | · EA | $24.99 | 116 77% | 3.5k | $87k (exactly $86,965) | Stèphano M. M. G. |
 | Dustwind: Resistance | $19.90 | 47 80% | 1.4k | $28k (exactly $28,059) | Dustwind Studios, Z-Software |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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