The niche at a glance

RTS on Steam: 3,487 released games, 988 in the last 12 months, 1,552 announced and still unreleased. Median lifetime reviews: 13. 45% of them never reached 10 reviews. Free to play: 13%. RTS is a Steam store tag, applied by the developer and refined by players; a game carries several tags at once, so niche counts overlap and do not add up to the size of the Steam catalogue. Data as of .

What releases end up with

lifetime reviews · released 3 years ago to 90 days ago · failures included1,321 releases
p100
p252
median13
p7570
p90500
45% of them never reached 10 reviewsMedian price $8.99 · 13% free-to-play

Releases per year

outcomes count only games released more than 90 days ago, anything newer has not had time to gather reviews
2019
121med 188 · 14% unseen
2020
173med 41 · 25% unseen
2021
210med 20 · 37% unseen
2022
255med 23 · 32% unseen
2023
301med 18 · 36% unseen
2024
442med 17 · 37% unseen
2025
471med 13 · 44% unseen
2026
599med 3 · 59% unseen · 261 too fresh

RTS × setting: what the pairings end up with

every setting tag shipped with RTS at least 5 times · same window× setting× presentation
share reaching 500 reviews, shrunk towards the catalogue · click a row to open the concept
RTS ×3 y12 mmedian≥500adjusted vs chancelast hitwho made it
World War II36105333.3% 20%–50%23.8%
cliché ×6.77173 d
UBOAT
Age of History 3
Men of War II
UBOAT · Age of History 3 · Men of War II
Historical180466021.7% 16%–28%20.2%
cliché ×5.48124 d
Manor Lords
Against the Storm
UBOAT
Manor Lords · Against the Storm · UBOAT
Naval199221under 2018.8%
cliché ×4.40231 d
UBOAT
Sea Power : Naval Combat in the Missile Age
9-Bit Armies: A Bit Too Far
UBOAT · Sea Power : Naval Combat in the Missile Age · 9-Bit Armies: A Bit Too Far
Trains92368under 2018.4%
ordinary ×1.34504 d
Last Train Home
Frostrain
Oddsparks: An Automation Adventure
Last Train Home · Frostrain · Oddsparks: An Automation Adventure
Naval Combat26126226.9% 14%–46%18.1%
cliché ×7.21231 d
Broken Arrow
UBOAT
Sea Power : Naval Combat in the Missile Age
Broken Arrow · UBOAT · Sea Power : Naval Combat in the Missile Age
Alternate History53143320.8% 12%–33%16.9%
cliché ×3.05270 d
Workers & Resources: Soviet Republic
Farthest Frontier
Age of History 3
Workers & Resources: Soviet Republic · Farthest Frontier · Age of History 3
Dystopian61224under 2016.7%
ordinary ×0.91915 d
Infection Free Zone
Terminator: Dark Fate - Defiance
Cavalry Girls
Infection Free Zone · Terminator: Dark Fate - Defiance · Cavalry Girls
Military229732617.0% 13%–22%16.2%
cliché ×8.55173 d
Broken Arrow
UBOAT
WARNO
Broken Arrow · UBOAT · WARNO
Villain Protagonist7184under 2016.0%
cliché ×3.69383 d
Dungeon Keeper™ 2
Buggos 2
Dungeon Keeper Gold™
Dungeon Keeper™ 2 · Buggos 2 · Dungeon Keeper Gold™
Submarine82310under 2015.5%
cliché ×3.48700 d
UBOAT
Sea Power : Naval Combat in the Missile Age
Destroyer: The U-Boat Hunter
UBOAT · Sea Power : Naval Combat in the Missile Age · Destroyer: The U-Boat Hunter
Tanks41112019.5% 10%–34%15.3%
cliché ×7.63173 d
Broken Arrow
WARNO
Men of War II
Broken Arrow · WARNO · Men of War II
War311872515.4% 12%–20%14.9%
cliché ×9.90124 d
Broken Arrow
UBOAT
Age of History 3
Broken Arrow · UBOAT · Age of History 3
Modern41163217.1% 9%–31%13.7%
cliché ×1.60196 d
Broken Arrow
Tempest Rising
Stormgate
Broken Arrow · Tempest Rising · Stormgate
Cold War15539under 2012.4%
cliché ×4.79691 d
WARNO
Sea Power : Naval Combat in the Missile Age
ICBM: Escalation
WARNO · Sea Power : Naval Combat in the Missile Age · ICBM: Escalation
Medical Sim7113under 2012.3%
cliché ×1.99592 d
BM General Hospital
War Hospital
BM General Hospital · War Hospital
33 pairings cleared 20 releases; 64 more never reached 5 and are not listed. Compared against 6.7% for games that carry any tags at all.

About these numbers

“Adjusted” is the share pulled towards the catalogue with the weight of twenty releases: the top of any ranked list is optimistic (out of a hundred pairings one will show 35 % on 23 releases by luck alone), and the adjustment is what stops a small lucky group from leading. The band next to the raw share is the 95 % interval. This list is the same for everyone today; the second opinion is the description-based one on Pitch comps.