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Should I ship a Shoot 'Em Up RTS?
RTS + Shoot 'Em Up
Only 9 developers shipped a Shoot 'Em Up RTS 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, Touhou Spell Carnival, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 17 more are announced, ×5.7 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: dead, for a 7 / 10 build.
Only 3 developers shipped this in the last year, under the 5 a verdict needs; over 2 years the middle one made $450 against a market of $1.5k. 17 games are announced.
| Bottom 30% | $119 (exactly $119) |
|---|---|
| Median | $450 (exactly $450) |
| Top 25% | $1.4k (exactly $1,439) |
| Top 5% | $73k (exactly $73,485) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 9 |
| Released games | 38 |
| Announced | 17 |
| Effort | 7 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Low |
| Typical price | $5.99 |
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 too few recent games to read momentum, supply 50% fewer developers than the period before.
Free games: 16%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is low: the lowest rating among its tags.
- RTS
- effort 7 / 10 · low · effort 7 sits in the low band
- Shoot 'Em Up
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 7 / 10 · big single-player or serious online
- Systems
- RTS, Shoot 'Em Up
- Price point
- $5.99 typical
Why players buy here
Fewer than 10 games in the last 2 years; sentiment and price figures use the all window.
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.
The top 10 games average 76% positive over 2,499 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $120. 9 in 10 of the 8 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 17 games are announced against 3 developers who shipped in the last year, ×5.7 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
RTS with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + RomeFair
- + Outbreak SimFair
- + HorrorFair
- + NavalFair
- + TabletopFair
- + SportsLong shot
- + PuzzleLong shot
- + World War IIPoor odds
- + Real-Time with PausePoor odds
- + Open WorldPoor odds
- + Colony SimPoor odds
- + HistoricalPoor odds
Comparable games
Darwinia 2005 · $281k 
Touhou Spell Carnival 2025 · $73k 
Frontline Crisis 2024 · $63k 
Red Risk 2016 · $52k 
Hero of Fate 2023 · $44k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Darwinia | older | $11.99 | 781 78% | 23k | $281k (exactly $280,926) | Introversion Software |
| | Touhou Spell Carnival | $49.99 | 49 77% | 1.5k | $73k (exactly $73,485) | Idea Factory, Compile Heart, STING | |
| | Frontline Crisis | older | $5.99 | 348 87% | 10k | $63k (exactly $62,536) | BCQT |
| | Red Risk | older | $4.99 | 349 56% | 10k | $52k (exactly $52,245) | Microblast Games |
| | Hero of Fate | older | $2.99 | 495 78% | 15k | $44k (exactly $44,402) | Planescape Game Studio |
 | Gray Zone | older | $19.99 | 52 61% | 1.6k | $31k (exactly $31,184) | EastWorks |
 | Space Raiders in Space | older | $9.99 | 75 93% | 2.3k | $22k (exactly $22,478) | Apollo Interactive S.L. |
 | Bees vs Zombees | $7.99 | 89 92% | 2.7k | $21k (exactly $21,333) | DeadPixel | |
 | Alien Hallway 2 | older | $4.99 | 137 67% | 4.1k | $21k (exactly $20,509) | Sigma Team Inc. |
 | Planet TD | older | $2.99 | 124 73% | 3.7k | $11k (exactly $11,123) | MD Games |
 | Xeno Rangers | $11.99 | 4 100% | 120 | $1.4k (exactly $1,439) | 9000 Legends | |
 | Miryam: The Polluted Land | $4.99 | 5 100% | 150 | $748 (exactly $748) | 6.5F Studio | |
 | Stars And Empires: Colony Defense | $14.99 | 1 100% | 30 | $450 (exactly $450) | Elemental Legion | |
 | 武侠幸存者 | $0.99 | 12 75% | 360 | $356 (exactly $356) | wuxiaxingcunzhe | |
 | Serpent Squad | $1.99 | 2 50% | 60 | $119 (exactly $119) | UncleChen Games | |
 | Chromatic Battles | · EA | $5.99 | 0 0% | 0 | $0 (exactly $0) | NightWave Games |
 | Bug Hunter | $0.99 | 0 0% | 0 | $0 (exactly $0) | QianYi |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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