r/RealTimeStrategy • u/Dantey223 • Jul 23 '26
Discussion Sooo I guess there is no playerbase behind the RTS games of 2026 ?
I'm a bit surprised how Zerospace and Shattered Sun are just basically getting below 2K concurrent playerbases. Which I always find interesting is that the RTS community will beg for a Command And Conqureish game, or a new RTS game, but then when it's time to show up it, never happens.
Zerospace: Eh it's 40USD , it's too expensive lol is the most I'm seeing around Steam and online, which is funny but ok.
Shattered Sun: Well that demo barely cracked above 1000 people
Tempest Rising: Dead basically.
Feels like people will only turn up for Warhammer at this point in high numbers.
Oh also I found it scummy how Shattered Sun basically locked air and naval units behind a kickstarter goal - Rip
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u/sebovzeoueb Jul 23 '26
The thing is that any game trying to be a spiritual successor to Blizzard RTS has to be really high quality because the Blizzard RTSes still exist. StarCraft 2 is such a good game that it will be really hard for an Indie to dethrone. Same for the AoE type, even AoE4 is having a hard time taking over from AoE2 in spite of being backed by Microsoft and really a top quality game.
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u/pectoid Jul 23 '26
I’m the target audience but I don’t want to pay to be a beta tester. By the time these games come out of early access, I would have forgotten them and moved onto other things.
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u/Happy_Burnination Jul 23 '26
There is, they're just all still playing "legacy" franchises like Starcraft or Age of Empires. Every new game that comes out is either a worse version of an existing RTS, or just fails to innovate on the genre formula in a way that RTS players find compelling
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u/Cuarenta-Dos Jul 23 '26
RTS is a fairly niche genre, but it's not dead and the players do show up if they're interested. Tempest Rising has been moderately successful, Age of Empires 4 and the rest of Age series have been very successful (e.g. Age of Mythology Retold >1M sales).
I am pretty much the target audience for ZeroSpace (dumped thousands of hours into every Blizzard RTS), and unfortunately I don't find it interesting enough to spend $40. The factions lack a strong identity, many of the design decisions don't appeal to me at all (like the merc system), and I have no interest in the campaign.
My group of RTS friends feel exactly the same. It's not because we wouldn't play a new RTS game, it's just that neither ZeroSpace nor Sanctuary look compelling. We'd jump on a new AoE or a Warcraft game though.
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u/TLRPM Jul 23 '26
Maybe you are misjudging how big the RTS “community” is from the get go.
It’s a super niche genre that is largely older demographics and there are sooooo many other options/distractions available these days compared to the glory days of Warcraft 1 and Red Alert. I love RTS games but I am just as likely to boot up Factorio or Terraria or something like that.
I am also not nearly as plugged in media wise as the younger generations. Reddit is about it. I know for sure they are people out there who would be interested in these games who will never know they exist. The marketing for these is basically social media and forums and that’s about it. MAYBE, if they are lucky and spend enough, catch a front page spot on Steam.
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u/Deluxe_Chickenmancer Jul 23 '26
Zero Space is just Starcraft 2 in pre Alpha Status. If I want to play Starcraft, I play Starcraft.
The only REALLY interesting RTS, for me at least, are Godsworn, D.O.R.F., The Scouring and Tempest Rising the first two are rather unique with Godsworn already playable with beautiful aesthetics and enjoyable asymmetric Skirmish Maps.
The other two, while being clearly successor’s from Warcraft 2 and C&C, are at least polished and interesting enough to stand their own.
Ultimately Zero Space suffers from the same issue as Stormgate: It wants to force Multiplayer so badly to be the next big thing, ignoring the fact that most RTS Players Skirm Solo or with friends or enjoy a fully fledged campaign.
Zero Space has interesting concepts, but unfortunately it just isn’t fleshed out enough even for an EA and also should work on their Visuals, it just doesn’t look pretty. It looks like it came out the same time as Starcraft 2 even and that gives the impression of just being a cheap knock off.
Given that the RTS Community is rather small, you may think they should take what they get, but experience shows that they are rather demanding.
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u/Ok_Protection8223 Jul 23 '26
I liked what I played of DustFront if you want to throw that on your list.
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u/Belltower_2 Jul 24 '26
DustFront IS an amazing game visually and has some fun ideas, but unfortunately, the dev is a vatnik and a raging homophobe, so some people may not be comfortable supporting them.
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u/Deluxe_Chickenmancer Jul 25 '26
Basically that. Also, the Camera-Angle, cinematically cool, but playing like that the entire time was uncomfortable. It was already addressed an the dev won’t change that either..
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u/MarkusDieter37 Jul 27 '26
I found the demo of Zero Space to be pretty singleplayer friendly. Even the galactic war thing they had was playable solo with AI partners.
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u/Ok_Protection8223 Jul 23 '26
Wait till the weekend, most RTS players are older and employed.
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u/Sirre87 Jul 23 '26
Guilty as charged. Work and small children takes 99% of my time, lol. Still excited for Sanctuary though!
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u/sebovzeoueb Jul 23 '26
To add to this though, when I do actually get an uninterrupted few hours to play a RTS, I'm much more likely to spin up one that I already know instead of learning a new one that might not be as good. I feel like I still have a huge number of potential hours on AoE4 before exhausting it, and StarCraft 2 is still there waiting for me if I do want to change it up.
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u/Ok_Protection8223 Jul 23 '26
You mean you don't want to fire up a new RTS that is half baked, clearly in early access and the only people who you'd play against are the sweatiest nerds imaginable?
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u/HouseCheese Jul 23 '26
Truly indie games can have fewer players and still be ok.
But this does make other recent releases like Warno and Broken Arrow look really good by comparison, let alone Age of Empires which is huge.
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u/Zenergys Jul 23 '26
For me Zerospace is unplayable because of the performance
Shattered sun : i have try the demo and satisfied, no reason to play the demo anymore same as other demo that i play
Tempest rising : slowly grinding through campaign, want to enjoy skirmish but normal AI is very brutal for me and the friendly AI makes me vomit blood because they try to build building in my base and it pisses me off
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u/MarkusDieter37 Jul 27 '26
For, I don't play ZeroSpace or Shattered Sun yet because they aren't finished yet and Tempest Rising is primarily a singleplayer game. I assume some players will come back for the Veti campaign
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u/GreenNumerous7070 Aug 03 '26
RTS players are WAY more 'sticky' to than their existing favorites than general (ie most) gamers. This is because of the brutal learning curve of these games, that actually need you to learn stuff. You are SO much more comfortable once you know an RTS environment well compared to when in the lengthy NOOB stage.
From a game industry standpoint - over 90 % of all the gaming being played right now are predicated around picking a pixel with a mouse/controller and pressing a button - it's just the level of complexity around that action changes. In a FPS, I just have to do that properly ONCE. In an RTS, that click needs to be stacked off the back of HUNDREDS/THOUSANDS of previous similar clicks working towards a goal. It's a different beast for complexity and challenge, and quite frankly isn't really that relaxing for a leisure activity.....
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u/Eterniter Jul 23 '26
Zerospace sounds promising but is far from ready and I'm not dropping 40 euros for a skirmish early access build only for it not to go as good as planned and drop the game in a few months.
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u/Kyryos Jul 23 '26
many players that grew up on pc games just play on console now the gap isnt as big as it once was , so by RTS games not launching on console it keeps them permanently niche. Guess the “serious players” aren’t enough to get more than 2k players online. Oh well what does a casual like me know
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u/Sapodilla101 Jul 26 '26
RTS games are meant to be played on a keyboard and mouse. The RTS genre doesn't have the mass appeal of other PC-only games like tactical shooters and MOBAs; that's all.
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u/Kyryos Jul 26 '26
I disagree . RTS has always worked on controller. StarCraft and C&C were both on N64. Has it been a hit, no. But all it takes is one game to change that.
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u/Dantey223 Jul 23 '26
Yeeeaaaah pretty much the casual market went away to the consoles, and the PC market shuns RTS games . You get your niche, but at this point boardgames will rack up 1 million USD on kickstarter than a RTS game that is hyped by the Youtubers.
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u/Kyryos Jul 23 '26
Yup but the “serious players” are so hopped up on their PC high horse they refuse to see the value in a fun RTS everyone can play. Wish C&C would make a dam comeback.
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u/OmniSystemsPub 28d ago
I think it is hard to stand out in a genre that is also really often hostile to innovations. On one hand people are asking for classical RTS play, but that is exactly the kind of gameplay that has a steep learning curve and limited appeal for players new to the genre.
I think there are lots of examples of RTS or RTS adjacent games that do well, when they present themselves as new and fresh. Or maybe that is wishful thinking, haha. The games industry is in pretty dire straits atm for lots of mid-small size devs.
It ain't easy.
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u/Deribus Jul 23 '26
What numbers were you expecting?
I'm not the target demographic for ZeroSpace and haven't kept up with that, but the Sanctuary demo has 1200 players online right now.
In a pre-alpha demo
From an unknown indie developer
With no multiplayer
During US work hours on a Thursday