Games › Real-Time with Pause › Real-Time with Pause + RPG
Should I ship an RPG Real-Time with Pause game?
Real-Time with Pause + RPG
Only 15 developers shipped an RPG 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, GreedFall: The Dying World, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 19 more are announced, ×2.1 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 7 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $28k, ×19 the market's $1.5k for a 7 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $17k; 1 in 20 cleared $1.5M, ×1028 the market median. Revenue is up 455% on the market; 19 games are announced against 9 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $16k (exactly $16,484) |
|---|---|
| Median | $28k (exactly $28,059) |
| Top 25% | $767k (exactly $766,544) |
| Top 5% | $1.5M (exactly $1,540,192) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 15 |
| Released games | 98 |
| Announced | 19 |
| 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 455% on the market, supply 50% more developers than 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
- RPG
- 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, RPG; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Exploration, Open World
- Price point
- $14.99 typical · top 25% priced $49.99 or above
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $49.99 or above; the middle game at $14.99.
The top 10 games average 83% positive over 8,152 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $17k. 7 in 10 of the 6 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 19 games are announced against 9 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.1 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
Crusader Kings III 2020 · $142M 
Dragon Age: Origins - Ultimate Edition 2010 · $26M 
Pathfinder: Kingmaker — Enhanced Plus Edition 2018 · $17M 
Pillars of Eternity 2015 · $15M 
Mass Effect (2007) 2008 · $13M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Crusader Kings III | older | $49.99 | 94,615 90% | 2.8M | $142M (exactly $141,894,116) | Paradox Development Studio |
| | Dragon Age: Origins - Ultimate Edition | older | $29.99 | 28,721 85% | 862k | $26M (exactly $25,840,284) | BioWare |
| | Pathfinder: Kingmaker — Enhanced Plus Edition | older | $19.99 | 28,146 77% | 844k | $17M (exactly $16,879,156) | Owlcat Games |
| | Pillars of Eternity | older | $29.99 | 16,990 87% | 510k | $15M (exactly $15,285,903) | Obsidian Entertainment |
| | Mass Effect (2007) | older | $29.99 | 14,871 93% | 446k | $13M (exactly $13,379,439) | BioWare |
 | FINAL FANTASY XII THE ZODIAC AGE | older | $49.99 | 8,679 88% | 260k | $13M (exactly $13,015,896) | Square Enix |
 | Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition | older | $19.99 | 15,395 92% | 462k | $9.2M (exactly $9,232,382) | Beamdog |
 | Tyranny | older | $29.99 | 9,877 87% | 296k | $8.9M (exactly $8,886,337) | Obsidian Entertainment |
 | Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire | older | $19.99 | 14,659 87% | 440k | $8.8M (exactly $8,791,002) | Obsidian Entertainment |
 | STAR WARS™ Knights of the Old Republic™ | older | $9.99 | 28,518 90% | 856k | $8.5M (exactly $8,546,845) | BioWare, Aspyr (Mac) |
 | GreedFall: The Dying World | $49.99 | 1,027 61% | 31k | $1.5M (exactly $1,540,192) | Spiders | |
 | House of Legacy | · EA | $14.99 | 3,269 84% | 98k | $1.5M (exactly $1,470,069) | S3 Studio |
 | Wicked Seed | $19.99 | 1,376 94% | 41k | $825k (exactly $825,187) | Dead Right Games | |
 | Airborne Empire | $29.99 | 852 86% | 26k | $767k (exactly $766,544) | The Wandering Band LLC | |
 | Banquet for Fools | $19.99 | 936 89% | 28k | $561k (exactly $561,319) | Hannah and Joseph Games | |
 | Escape The Mad Empire | · EA | $17.99 | 406 88% | 12k | $219k (exactly $219,118) | XperimentalZ Games |
 | 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 | |
 | Crownbound - Fantasy Kingdom Sim | $11.99 | 73 47% | 2.2k | $26k (exactly $26,258) | Bart Mamzer | |
 | Geo Mythica | $14.99 | 50 100% | 1.5k | $22k (exactly $22,485) | Guin Entertainment, LLC |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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