real-time strategy

American  

[ree-uhl-tahym strat-i-jee, reel] / ˈri əlˈtaɪm ˌstræt ɪ dʒi, ˈril /

noun

Digital Technology.

1. a genre of video games in which a player battles enemies, faces environmental challenges, or achieves a goal while other player characters and nonplayer characters are playing simultaneously, without sequenced turns or rounds of play (often used attributively). RTS

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Etymology

Origin of real-time strategy

First recorded in 1980–85

Example Sentences

“It’s a real-time strategy game which mimics real-world problems more closely,” Wünsch, now retired from competitive “StarCraft,” told MarketWatch.

From MarketWatch • May 23, 2026

The trailer showed off a top-down real-time strategy game with elements of resource management and questing.

From BBC • Aug. 21, 2024

Under Kotick, many Blizzard staff members with experience developing real-time strategy games left the company.

From Seattle Times • Nov. 13, 2023

“StarCraft” is a science fiction, real-time strategy game made by Blizzard Entertainment.

From Washington Post • Oct. 13, 2022

But the short version is: the game is a mix of a visual novel and a real-time strategy game, which follows more than a dozen characters across events that span multiple centuries.

From The Verge • Apr. 12, 2022