Do I ship it?

Games › Mechanics › Real-Time with Pause

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Real-Time with Pause game?

Real-Time with Pause

Of 64 developers who shipped a 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.. 119 more are announced, ×3.1 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 $14k; 1 in 20 cleared $3.2M, ×2156 the market median. Revenue is up 25% on the market; 119 games are announced against 38 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 18.7 times the market baseline, revenue up 25% on the market, 119 announced, ×3.1 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Real-Time with Pause
Fig. 1 · this niche among 355
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 64
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $9.2k → $44k → $32k → $34k → $143k → $26k → $215k (still earning) → $15k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Real-Time with Pause: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 64
Bottom 30% $13k (exactly $13,491)
Median $28k (exactly $28,059)
Top 25% $274k (exactly $273,867)
Top 5% $3.2M (exactly $3,229,708)
Developers, 2 yr 64
Released games 361
Announced 119
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 25% on the market, supply 35% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 4%, excluded from money figures.

See every window in the explorer →

Plate 2 · systems and tooling

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

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
7 / 10 · big single-player or serious online
Systems
Real-Time with Pause
Price point
$14.99 typical · top 25% priced $29.99 or above
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $29.99 or above; the middle game at $14.99.

The top 10 games average 85% positive over 50,823 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $14k, median $28k, 1 in 4 over $270k, 1 in 20 over $3.2M.

3 in 10 developers made under $14k. 6 in 10 of the 28 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 119 games are announced against 38 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.1 per shipper.

Plate 6 · every pair with this tag

All pairs with Real-Time with Pause

9 pairs with a settingwith: mechanics · settings · any
  1. Real-Time with Pause + Historical Poor odds $124k 14 devs
  2. Real-Time with Pause + Military Poor odds $124k 11 devs
  3. Real-Time with Pause + Medieval Poor odds $87k 10 devs
  4. Real-Time with Pause + War Poor odds $64k 14 devs
  5. Real-Time with Pause + Space Poor odds $43k 9 devs
  6. Real-Time with Pause + Fantasy Poor odds $26k 13 devs
  7. Real-Time with Pause + Sci-fi Poor odds $16k 12 devs
  8. Real-Time with Pause + Post-apocalyptic Dead $36k 7 devs
  9. Real-Time with Pause + Alternate History Dead $22k 8 devs
Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Hearts of Iron IV 2016 · $412M Stellaris 2016 · $210M Cities: Skylines 2015 · $198M Crusader Kings III 2020 · $142M Europa Universalis IV 2013 · $141M
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
Stellaris older $49.99 139,718 85% 4.2M $210M (exactly $209,535,085) Paradox Development Studio
Cities: Skylines older $29.99 220,465 92% 6.6M $198M (exactly $198,352,360) Colossal Order
Crusader Kings III older $49.99 94,615 90% 2.8M $142M (exactly $141,894,116) Paradox Development Studio
Europa Universalis IV older $49.99 94,114 87% 2.8M $141M (exactly $141,142,766) Paradox Development Studio, Paradox Tin… (Paradox Development Studio, Paradox Tinto)
Frostpunk older $29.99 114,376 92% 3.4M $103M (exactly $102,904,087) 11 bit studios
Victoria 3 older $49.99 41,251 71% 1.2M $62M (exactly $61,864,125) 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
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
Door Kickers 2: Task Force North $24.99 12,324 96% 370k $9.2M (exactly $9,239,303) KillHouse Games
Flotsam $24.99 4,308 80% 129k $3.2M (exactly $3,229,708) Pajama Llama Games
Hollywood Animal · EA $19.99 3,845 73% 115k $2.3M (exactly $2,305,846) Weappy Wholesome
Void War $19.99 3,653 94% 110k $2.2M (exactly $2,190,704) Tundra
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
Laysara: Summit Kingdom $24.99 1,421 80% 43k $1.1M (exactly $1,065,324) Quite OK Games
Company of Heroes 3: Final Stand $29.99 1,015 49% 30k $913k (exactly $913,196) Relic Entertainment

Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.