The niche at a glance

Real-Time on Steam: 549 released games, 72 in the last 12 months, 116 announced and still unreleased. Median lifetime reviews: 29. 32% of them never reached 10 reviews. Free to play: 10%. Real-Time 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 included110 releases
p102
p256
median29
p75151
p90681
32% of them never reached 10 reviewsMedian price $9.99 · 10% 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
46med 51 · 24% unseen
2020
64med 20 · 34% unseen
2021
27med 28 · 26% unseen
2022
20med 40 · 30% unseen
2023
29med 64 · 17% unseen
2024
37med 41 · 24% unseen
2025
44med 28 · 27% unseen
2026
43med 4 · 60% unseen · 23 too fresh

Real-Time × setting: what the pairings end up with

every setting tag shipped with Real-Time at least 5 times · same window× setting× presentation
share reaching 500 reviews, shrunk towards the catalogue · click a row to open the concept
Real-Time ×3 y12 mmedian≥500adjusted vs chancelast hitwho made it
Military9144under 2014.9%
cliché ×5.59259 d
Tempest Rising
Sea Power : Naval Combat in the Missile Age
Task Force Admiral - Vol.1: American Carrier Battles
Tempest Rising · Sea Power : Naval Combat in the Missile Age · Task Force Admiral - Vol.1: American Carrier Battles
Mythology50474under 2013.3%
ordinary ×1.47525 d
Godsworn
Builders of Greece
Godsworn · Builders of Greece
Naval6423under 2012.8%
cliché ×5.76259 d
Sea Power : Naval Combat in the Missile Age
Task Force Admiral - Vol.1: American Carrier Battles
Sea Power : Naval Combat in the Missile Age · Task Force Admiral - Vol.1: American Carrier Battles
Space14226under 2012.7%
cliché ×2.97789 d
Sins of a Solar Empire II
Homeworld 3
Executive Assault 2
Sins of a Solar Empire II · Homeworld 3 · Executive Assault 2
War2243818.2% 7%–39%12.7%
cliché ×7.90525 d
Tempest Rising
Sea Power : Naval Combat in the Missile Age
Executive Assault 2
Tempest Rising · Sea Power : Naval Combat in the Missile Age · Executive Assault 2
Medieval93196under 2011.5%
cliché ×1.84824 d
Nevergrind Online
Godsworn
Nevergrind Online · Godsworn
Magic10326under 2011.1%
ordinary ×1.03824 d
Nevergrind Online
Godsworn
Nevergrind Online · Godsworn
Sci-fi2452712.5% 4%–31%9.8%
cliché ×2.36789 d
Sins of a Solar Empire II
Homeworld 3
Executive Assault 2
Sins of a Solar Empire II · Homeworld 3 · Executive Assault 2
World War II5144under 209.3%
cliché ×7.34259 d
Task Force Admiral - Vol.1: American Carrier Battles
Task Force Admiral - Vol.1: American Carrier Battles
Historical16444under 209.3%
cliché ×4.74259 d
Task Force Admiral - Vol.1: American Carrier Battles
Builders of Greece
Task Force Admiral - Vol.1: American Carrier Battles · Builders of Greece
Fantasy17427under 209.0%
ordinary ×1.05824 d
Nevergrind Online
Godsworn
Nevergrind Online · Godsworn
Dark Fantasy6162under 209.0%
ordinary ×0.95930 d
Necrosmith 2
Necrosmith 2
Futuristic7221under 208.6%
cliché ×1.99537 d
Tempest Rising
Tempest Rising
Post-apocalyptic8153under 208.3%
cliché ×1.53446 d
Endzone 2
Endzone 2
Science5142under 205.3%
cliché ×2.54never
2 pairings cleared 20 releases; 120 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.