Ask Lemmy

According to this list, the annual release count peaked around 2000, but RTSes are still coming out at a decent clip, maybe half the rate as they did then.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_real-time_strategy_video_games

Some thoughts:

• The genre as it ran in its heyday was really aimed at keyboard+mouse play. I don't think that it translates incredibly well to mobile or console. I remember trying to play Supreme Commander on a gamepad and not really liking it.

• Depending upon how one classifies games (the above list appears to treat real-time tactics games as a subgenre, which I wouldn't), some real-time strategy games might go into a different bucket, the real-time tactics genre.

• I think that RTSes gave birth to some child genres, like MOBAs, that to some extent compete for marketshare.

• There were a lot of 2D RTSes that came out around 2000. I mean, it was something of a glut. I think that it was just a good match for the game hardware and computer capabilities of the time. But...you'd kind of expect some subsequent decrease if that's the case. Other genres have had similar booms based on being a good match for the hardware of the time. For example, third generation consoles and fourth generation consoles saw a huge number of side-view 2D platformers, because they were a decent match for what the hardware could do. There are still modern side-view platformers that come out, but it's a far smaller percentage of the game market than it was then.