Should I ship a Shooter RTS?
RTS + Shooter
Of 40 developers who shipped a Shooter RTS 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.. 82 more are announced, ×3.7 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: dead, for a 7 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $450 in the last 2 years and $480 over 4, against a market of $1.5k for a 7 / 10 build. 22 developers shipped in the last year and 82 games are announced.
| Bottom 30% | $59 (exactly $59) |
|---|---|
| Median | $450 (exactly $450) |
| Top 25% | $1.7k (exactly $1,678) |
| Top 5% | $187k (exactly $186,550) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 40 |
| Released games | 157 |
| Announced | 82 |
| Effort | 7 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Low |
| Typical price | $4.99 |
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 795% on the market, supply 15% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 17%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is low: the lowest rating among its tags.
What it takes
- Effort
- 7 / 10 · big single-player or serious online
- Systems
- RTS, Shooter; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Strategy, Combat
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $16.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Top-Down, First-Person
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $16.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 74% positive over 1,833 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $59. 9 in 10 of the 25 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 82 games are announced against 22 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.7 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
Call to Arms - Gates of Hell: Ostfront 2021 · $34M 
UBOAT 2024 · $23M 
Outpost: Infinity Siege 2024 · $8.7M 
Freeman: Guerrilla Warfare 2019 · $8.6M 
Call to Arms 2018 · $7.8M | 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 |
| | UBOAT | older | $29.99 | 25,568 83% | 767k | $23M (exactly $23,003,530) | Deep Water Studio |
| | Outpost: Infinity Siege | older | $24.99 | 11,636 65% | 349k | $8.7M (exactly $8,723,509) | Team Ranger |
| | Freeman: Guerrilla Warfare | older | $24.99 | 11,489 64% | 345k | $8.6M (exactly $8,613,303) | KK Game Studio |
| | Call to Arms | older | $14.99 | 17,431 80% | 523k | $7.8M (exactly $7,838,721) | Digitalmindsoft |
 | Halo Wars: Definitive Edition | older | $19.99 | 8,627 92% | 259k | $5.2M (exactly $5,173,612) | Ensemble Studios, Behaviour Interactive… (Ensemble Studios, Behaviour Interactive, 343 Industries) |
 | Door Kickers | older | $19.99 | 8,041 94% | 241k | $4.8M (exactly $4,822,188) | KillHouse Games |
 | Total Conflict: Resistance | · EA older | $29.99 | 5,089 74% | 153k | $4.6M (exactly $4,578,573) | Thunder Devs. |
 | Silica | · EA older | $19.99 | 4,468 77% | 134k | $2.7M (exactly $2,679,460) | Martin 'Dram' Melichárek |
 | Natural Selection 2 | older | $4.99 | 8,633 85% | 259k | $1.3M (exactly $1,292,360) | Unknown Worlds Entertainment |
 | Trench Lord: Eastern Front | $11.99 | 774 83% | 23k | $278k (exactly $278,408) | Tracer Studio, LING YUN CO.,LTD. | |
 | Drone Sector | · EA | $16.99 | 366 89% | 11k | $187k (exactly $186,550) | Icosphere |
 | 7 Days Blood Moons | · EA | $9.99 | 418 40% | 13k | $125k (exactly $125,275) | iLLOGIKA |
 | Artificial Extinction 2 | $19.99 | 113 77% | 3.4k | $68k (exactly $67,766) | 100Hr Games Inc | |
 | IRON GUARD: Salvation | $17.99 | 44 93% | 1.3k | $24k (exactly $23,747) | Xlab Digital | |
 | Status One | $14.99 | 30 73% | 900 | $13k (exactly $13,491) | LastCall Studio | |
 | Bad Pixels | · EA | $11.99 | 22 95% | 660 | $7.9k (exactly $7,913) | Dadako |
 | Dune Rancher | $2.99 | 39 76% | 1.2k | $3.5k (exactly $3,498) | Jestercraft | |
 | Girls vs Goblins | $2.99 | 19 73% | 570 | $1.7k (exactly $1,704) | Maiden Realm | |
 | JAIL DICE: Roll to Break | $6.99 | 8 100% | 240 | $1.7k (exactly $1,678) | GyoonyGames |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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