Games › RTS › RTS + Transportation
Should I ship a Transportation RTS?
RTS + Transportation
Only 7 developers shipped a Transportation 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, Worldwide Rush, 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, ×9.5 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: dead, for a 7 / 10 build.
Only 2 developers shipped this in the last year, under the 5 a verdict needs; over 2 years the middle one made $270 against a market of $1.5k. 19 games are announced.
not enough cohorts to draw
| Bottom 30% | $60 (exactly $60) |
|---|---|
| Median | $269 (exactly $269) |
| Top 25% | $99k (exactly $98,601) |
| Top 5% | $335k (exactly $335,232) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 7 |
| Released games | 28 |
| Announced | 19 |
| Effort | 7 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Low |
| Typical price | $9.99 |
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 60% fewer developers than the period before.
Free games: 11%, 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
- Transportation
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 7 / 10 · big single-player or serious online
- Systems
- RTS, Transportation
- Price point
- $9.99 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 $29.99 or above; the middle game at $11.99.
The top 10 games average 79% positive over 16,266 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $60. 7 in 10 of the 6 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 19 games are announced against 2 developers who shipped in the last year, ×9.5 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
Sailing Era 2023 · $3.4M 
Rise of Industry 2019 · $2.8M 
Mashinky 2018 · EA · $1.8M 
Fly Corp 2023 · $1.4M 
RAILGRADE 2023 · $1.1M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Sailing Era | older | $24.99 | 4,565 78% | 137k | $3.4M (exactly $3,422,380) | GY Games |
| | Rise of Industry | older | $29.99 | 3,122 74% | 94k | $2.8M (exactly $2,808,863) | Dapper Penguin Studios |
| | Mashinky | · EA older | $24.99 | 2,361 84% | 71k | $1.8M (exactly $1,770,042) | Jan Zelený |
| | Fly Corp | older | $14.99 | 3,112 85% | 93k | $1.4M (exactly $1,399,466) | KishMish Games |
| | RAILGRADE | older | $29.99 | 1,205 84% | 36k | $1.1M (exactly $1,084,138) | Minakata Dynamics |
 | I am an Air Traffic Controller 4 | older | $59.99 | 566 79% | 17k | $1.0M (exactly $1,018,630) | TechnoBrain |
 | Worldwide Rush | $19.99 | 559 77% | 17k | $335k (exactly $335,232) | Memel Games | |
 | Delivery INC | older | $14.99 | 257 71% | 7.7k | $116k (exactly $115,573) | DIGIFOX |
 | Super Loco World - Cozy Train Automation | $9.99 | 329 76% | 9.9k | $99k (exactly $98,601) | Andrii Bychkovskyi | |
 | East India Company | older | $9.99 | 190 52% | 5.7k | $57k (exactly $56,943) | Nitro Games |
 | Pocket and Zooom | $15.99 | 16 75% | 480 | $7.7k (exactly $7,675) | TechnoBrain | |
 | Air Fleet | $2.99 | 3 0% | 90 | $269 (exactly $269) | River Way Studios | |
 | hotland | $1.99 | 1 100% | 30 | $60 (exactly $60) | AdamasZ | |
 | H2My Park Game | $8.99 | 0 0% | 0 | $0 (exactly $0) | Michael Szonn | |
 | Truck Master | $12.99 | 0 0% | 0 | $0 (exactly $0) | Urban Isotope |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
Your address goes to Buttondown, which sends the letter, and nowhere else. Every issue has an unsubscribe link. No tracking beyond the open count Buttondown keeps.