Steam tag
Estimated revenue, market economics, and the top games tagged Real-Time with Pause on Steam.
Share of Real-Time with Pause games by estimated lifetime revenue. Averages hide this — a few hits pull the mean far above what a typical game in the genre makes.
Read this as the notable end of the genre. Steam publishes user tags only on game pages we fully enrich, so this sample skews to games that got attention — its median is 248 reviews against roughly 19 for the catalogue. The real share of low-earning Real-Time with Pause games is higher than shown.
For developers
Total estimated revenue of Real-Time with Pause games, grouped by the year they launched — a release-cohort trend, not a live time-series. Recent years are still accumulating revenue after launch.
Leaderboard
| # | Game | Est. revenue | Reviews | Score | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hearts of Iron IVSteam | approximately $339M | 263.9K | 91% | $49.99 |
| 2 | approximately $211.6M | 134.5K | 88% | $49.99 | |
Modeled estimate, not reported sales
| Year | Releases | Median rev | $100k+ | $1M+ | Total genre revenue |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 34 | approximately $28.3K | approximately 29% | approximately 12% | approximately $21.8M |
| 2025 | 25 | approximately $59.4K | approximately 44% | approximately 24% | approximately $30.5M |
| 2024 | 21 | approximately $15.3K | approximately 19% | approximately 14% | approximately $25.7M |
| 2023 | 25 | approximately $25.8K | approximately 36% | approximately 8% | approximately $10.5M |
| 2022 | 29 | approximately $49.5K | approximately 34% | approximately 17% | approximately $24.3M |
| 2021 | 13 | approximately $16.7K | approximately 38% | approximately 23% | approximately $9.3M |
| 2020 | 28 | approximately $1.7K | approximately 18% | approximately 7% | approximately $5.5M |
| 2019 | 32 | approximately $64.8K | approximately 44% | approximately 19% | approximately $74.3M |
| 2018 | 26 | approximately $10.1K | approximately 38% | approximately 19% | approximately $32M |
| 2017 | 22 | approximately $64.2K | approximately 36% | approximately 18% | approximately $12.9M |
| 2016 | 17 | approximately $331.8K | approximately 76% | approximately 29% | approximately $434.4M |
| 2015 | 18 | approximately $109.1K | approximately 50% | approximately 22% | approximately $218.1M |
Median beats average here: genre revenue is hit-driven, so the median shows what the typical Real-Time with Pause launch actually earned. Recent years accumulate revenue for a while after launch.
| 3 |
Cities: SkylinesSteam |
| approximately $206.5M |
| 299.3K |
| 90% |
| $29.99 |
| 4 | StellarisSteam | approximately $76.8M | 196.9K | 86% | $14.99 |
| 5 | Imperator: RomeSteam | approximately $29.2M | 26.8K | 66% | $39.99 |
| 6 | They Are BillionsSteam | approximately $28M | 51.5K | 85% | $29.99 |
| 7 | approximately $25M | 78.8K | 95% | $9.99 |
| 8 | FrostpunkSteam | approximately $19.6M | 137.6K | 93% | $5.99 |
| 9 | Terra InvictaSteam | approximately $14.5M | 9.9K | 80% | $19.99 |
| 10 | approximately $12.4M | 13.6K | 96% | $24.99 |
| 11 | Company of Heroes 2Steam | approximately $11.7M | 113.2K | 79% | $4.99 |
| 12 | Victoria IISteam | approximately $11.5M | 20.4K | 90% | $19.99 |
| 13 | approximately $11.1M | 12.7K | 86% | $29.99 |
| 14 | The UniversimSteam | approximately $10.7M | 10.7K | 79% | $29.99 |
| 15 | approximately $8.9M | 12.9K | 94% | $19.99 |
| 16 | approximately $8.9M | 18.1K | 92% | $19.99 |
| 17 | Steel Division 2Steam | approximately $8.8M | 8.1K | 79% | $39.99 |
| 18 | approximately $8.4M | 34K | 91% | $9.99 |
| 19 | Cossacks 3Steam | approximately $7.8M | 16.2K | 82% | $19.99 |
| 20 | Door KickersSteam | approximately $7.2M | 10.1K | 94% | $19.99 |
| 21 | Tropico 4Steam | approximately $7.1M | 12.8K | 92% | $14.99 |
| 22 | Pillars of EternitySteam | approximately $7M | 26.2K | 88% | $11.99 |
| 23 | TyrannySteam | approximately $6.6M | 10K | 86% | $29.99 |
| 24 | approximately $6.4M | 26.1K | 94% | $9.99 |
| 25 | Distant Worlds 2Steam | approximately $5.9M | 3.6K | 71% | $49.99 |
| 26 | approximately $5.8M | 31.5K | 86% | $7.49 |
| 27 | approximately $5.4M | 11K | 92% | $19.99 |
| 28 | approximately $5M | 14.4K | 97% | $12.99 |
| 29 | Phantom BrigadeSteam | approximately $4.9M | 4.6K | 81% | $29.99 |
| 30 | CataclismoSteam | approximately $4.5M | 3.9K | 89% | $29.99 |
| 31 | approximately $4.4M | 4.4K | 81% | $29.99 |
| 32 | FlotsamSteam | approximately $4.1M | 4.6K | 81% | $24.99 |
| 33 | approximately $4M | 6.3K | 74% | $19.99 |
| 34 | approximately $3.5M | 9.6K | 90% | $19.99 |
| 35 | approximately $3.3M | 7.6K | 82% | $14.99 |
| 36 | Mass Effect (2007)Steam | approximately $3.3M | 16.6K | 94% | $7.49 |
| 37 | Void WarSteam | approximately $3.2M | 4K | 94% | $19.99 |
| 38 | approximately $3.1M | 2.5K | 74% | $39.99 |
| 39 | Lost in Random™Steam | approximately $3.1M | 4.5K | 89% | $29.99 |
| 40 | approximately $3M | 10.3K | 89% | $14.99 |
| 41 | New CycleSteam | approximately $2.9M | 2.9K | 79% | $29.99 |
| 42 | Startup CompanySteam | approximately $2.9M | 6.2K | 81% | $12.99 |
| 43 | Hollywood AnimalSteam | approximately $2.8M | 4.2K | 73% | $19.99 |
| 44 | Heat SignatureSteam | approximately $2.7M | 7.4K | 94% | $14.99 |
| 45 | Crying SunsSteam | approximately $2.6M | 4.6K | 86% | $24.99 |
| 46 | approximately $2.5M | 3.8K | 72% | $19.99 |
| 47 | approximately $2.4M | 4.8K | 96% | $14.99 |
| 48 | Automation EmpireSteam | approximately $2.3M | 2.6K | 66% | $29.99 |
| 49 | approximately $2.2M | 5.7K | 95% | $19.99 |
| 50 | approximately $2M | 1.9K | 75% | $29.99 |