RTS gameplay
Every paid Steam game tagged RTS, ranked by our estimated lifetime revenue. 3,740 games in the catalog, 2,219 with a sales estimate.
Games
3,740
Active paid titles tagged
Total Gross
$5.9B
Sum of estimated lifetime revenue
Median
$7.8K
Half earn less, half more
Hit Rate
29.4%
653 games earned $100K+
Revenue share - top 5 vs rest
- Hearts of Iron IV 20.2%
- Crusader Kings III 3.8%
- Total War: WARHAMMER II 3.7%
- Manor Lords 3.4%
- Total War: WARHAMMER III 3.4%
- Other (2214 games) 65.6%
Top 25 earners
The highest-earning RTS games by our estimator.
| # | Game | Released | Reviews | Peak CCU | Est. Units | Est. Gross |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Hearts of Iron IV Paradox Development Studio | 2016-06-06 | 363,397 | 93,196 | 23,984,202 | $1,198,970,258 |
| 2 |  Crusader Kings III Paradox Development Studio | 2020-09-01 | 143,243 | 98,474 | 4,469,693 | $223,439,953 |
| 3 |  Total War: WARHAMMER II CREATIVE ASSEMBLY, Feral Interactive (Mac), Feral Interactive (Linux) | 2017-09-28 | 121,510 | 84,254 | 3,645,300 | $218,681,547 |
| 4 |  Manor Lords Slavic Magic | 2024-04-26 | 93,307 | 170,000 | 5,100,000 | $203,921,538 |
| 5 |  Total War: WARHAMMER III CREATIVE ASSEMBLY, Feral Interactive | 2022-02-16 | 151,400 | 166,519 | 3,330,800 | $199,814,692 |
| 6 |  Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition World's Edge, Forgotten Empires, CaptureAge, Tantalus Media, Wicked Witch, Feral Interactive | 2019-11-14 | 183,968 | 38,725 | 4,415,232 | $154,488,968 |
| 7 |  Frostpunk 11 bit studios | 2018-04-24 | 138,372 | 29,195 | 4,677,363 | $140,274,116 |
| 8 |  Imperator: Rome Paradox Development Studio | 2019-04-25 | 26,942 | 13,616 | 3,152,214 | $126,057,038 |
| 9 |  Age of Empires IV: Anniversary Edition World's Edge, Relic Entertainment, Forgotten Empires, Climax Studios | 2021-10-28 | 96,680 | 64,911 | 2,126,960 | $85,057,130 |
| 10 |  Total War: THREE KINGDOMS CREATIVE ASSEMBLY, Feral Interactive (Mac), Feral Interactive (Linux) | 2019-05-23 | 94,113 | 191,816 | 2,070,486 | $82,798,735 |
| 11 |  Company of Heroes 2 Relic Entertainment, Feral Interactive (Mac), Feral Interactive (Linux) | 2013-06-25 | 113,462 | 161,908 | 4,140,556 | $82,769,714 |
| 12 |  Total War: WARHAMMER CREATIVE ASSEMBLY, Feral Interactive (Linux), Feral Interactive (Mac) | 2016-05-24 | 52,390 | 111,909 | 1,292,958 | $77,564,550 |
| 13 |  Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun Mimimi Games | 2016-12-06 | 38,560 | 4,985 | 1,669,608 | $66,617,359 |
| 14 |  Kenshi Lo-Fi Games | 2018-12-06 | 117,853 | 11,572 | 2,121,354 | $63,587,586 |
| 15 |  Banished Shining Rock Software LLC | 2014-02-18 | 43,422 | 24,568 | 3,126,384 | $62,496,416 |
| 16 |  Against the Storm Eremite Games | 2023-12-08 | 37,911 | 12,832 | 2,064,043 | $61,900,650 |
| 17 |  Dyson Sphere Program Youthcat Studio | 2021-01-20 | 92,127 | 59,339 | 3,000,453 | $59,979,055 |
| 18 |  Age of Mythology: Extended Edition SkyBox Labs, Ensemble Studios, Forgotten Empires | 2014-05-08 | 36,372 | 11,010 | 1,983,927 | $59,497,971 |
| 19 |  Total War: ROME II - Emperor Edition CREATIVE ASSEMBLY, Feral Interactive | 2013-09-02 | 88,940 | 118,240 | 1,956,680 | $58,680,833 |
| 20 |  Company of Heroes 3 Relic Entertainment | 2023-02-23 | 40,651 | 19,397 | 926,073 | $55,555,119 |
| 21 |  Age of Empires II (Retired) Skybox Labs, Hidden Path Entertainment, Ensemble Studios, Forgotten Empires | 2013-04-09 | 102,991 | 27,618 | 2,471,784 | $49,410,962 |
| 22 |  ENDLESS Spaceâ„¢ 2 AMPLITUDE Studios | 2017-05-18 | 23,159 | 53,435 | 1,221,399 | $48,843,746 |
| 23 |  Total War: SHOGUN 2 The Creative Assembly | - | 69,750 | 53,955 | 1,618,650 | $48,478,568 |
| 24 |  Workers & Resources: Soviet Republic 3Division | 2024-06-20 | 27,829 | 8,221 | 1,168,818 | $46,741,032 |
| 25 |  Anno 1800 Ubisoft Mainz | 2019-04-16 | 32,784 | 25,214 | 767,285 | $46,029,427 |
Releases per year
Is RTS trending up or fading? Bars show new paid Steam releases with this tag each year. Green flecks are hits (≥$100K est. lifetime).
19
2010
31
2011
16
2012
27
2013
63
2014
72
2015
74
2016
98
2017
79
2018
99
2019
144
2020
169
2021
179
2022
216
2023
357
2024
407
2025
421
2026
Top upcoming
Highest-wishlist unreleased RTS games.
| # | Game | WL Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Total War: WARHAMMER 40,000 Creative Assembly | 6 |
| 2 |  Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War IV KING Art | 17 |
| 3 |  Dust Front RTS rtsDimon | 52 |
| 4 |  Stronghold 4 Firefly Studios | 64 |
| 5 |  Anvil Empires Siege Camp | 65 |
| 6 |  Game of Thrones: War for Westeros PlaySide | 97 |
| 7 |  Ebbtide ProjectAlive | 138 |
| 8 |  KingFish Firevolt | 152 |
| 9 |  Espiocracy Ex Vivo Studios | 166 |
| 10 |  Defilade RBGames | 174 |
Top recent (12 months)
Highest-earning RTS games released in the past year.
| # | Game | Est. Gross |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |  | $24,156,773 |
| 2 |  | $18,676,062 |
| 3 |  | $15,210,996 |
| 4 |  | $14,255,866 |
| 5 |  | $11,788,252 |
| 6 |  | $5,133,595 |
| 7 |  | $4,895,430 |
| 8 |  | $4,863,104 |
| 9 |  | $3,597,500 |
| 10 |  | $2,084,785 |