Genres

Ticker: price and year-over-year change for 40 genres. Price is the median estimated first-year revenue of indie paid launches. The same figures are on the Genres page.

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191,979
on 2 Oct 2026

Genres 3 Oct

Of 253 genres with 30+ launches at any price, West-facing view, 137 beat the 1 in 17 base rate. Price moves the odds most: 1 in 219 under $5, 40 in 100 at $20 to $40.137 of 253 genres beat the 1 in 17 base rate.137 beat the base rate.

Cohort median $540

Genres

Every genre, screened by how often its indie launches earned $100k or more in their first year. Pick your price first: price moves the odds more than genre does.

Indie paid Steam launches 6 to 30 months old, data 3 Oct 2026. A hit is an estimated first year of $100k+. The revenue estimate is soft: about 5 to 8 in 100 launches overall.

Best niches

All prices

Pairs that hit $100k+ beyond the oddsFree until launch

Cartoony + Horrorabout 6.2 times expected at its prices15 in 100
1Cartoony + Horror15 in 10040 launches2FPS + Funny17 in 10041 launches3Incremental + Pixel Graphics1 in13131 launches4Idler + Pixel Graphics1 in12162 launches5Funny + Online Co-Op20 in 10086 launches

Lens checkChanged recently. Standard: the yardstick. West-facing view: holds. Without the breakout: holds. Last 18 months: moves the answer.

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Best nichesFree until launchClick to unlockTag pairs that beat the odds

The genre list

The West-facing view lens is computed across all prices only for now, so this list reads All prices. Pick Standard to read $10 to $20.

Best odds at my priceChance of $100k+, read within one price band.Opens $10 to $20, Standard lens.Steady marketsHolds in every lens and no single game owns it.Now: Base Building, 21 in 100. 95 match.Biggest typical yearWhat the middle launch earned, highest first.Now: Shop Keeper, $20,791 typical. 253 match.Biggest upsideWhat the top tenth earned at least.Not computed for lenses yet.Proven at scale100+ launches and above the base rate.Now: Open World Survival Craft, 31 in 100. 95 match.Busiest marketsMost launches first: where the competition is.Now: Puzzle, 5,057 launches. 253 match.
Hide one-hit markets47 outHide small samples21 out

253 of 256 genres have 30+ launches at any price, West-facing view. Sorted by chance of $100k+, highest first.

Parody 1 in 18 earned $100k+, from 129 launches at any price, West-facing viewtypical $373 none
Programming 1 in 18 earned $100k+, from 91 launches at any price, West-facing viewtypical $1,222. Best of the pins none
Hidden Object 1 in 83 earned $100k+, from 1,584 launches at any price, West-facing viewtypical $548 none
Genres at any price, West-facing view, sorted by chance of $100k+. The first row is the base rate.
Rank#GenreChance of $100k+Typical yearTop 1 in 10LaunchesMarkersPin
All games at any price, West-facing viewthe base rate: the row to beat 1 in 171,546 of 26,280 $540not computed 26,280
1 31 in 100 earned $100k+, from 108 launches 31 in 10033 hits $18,843 not computed 108 1-hit Pin Open World Survival Craft
2 28 in 100 earned $100k+, from 69 launches 28 in 10019 hits $20,791 not computed 69 1-hit Pin Shop Keeper
3 21 in 100 earned $100k+, from 554 launches 21 in 100119 hits $3,119 not computed 554 none Pin Base Building
4 20 in 100 earned $100k+, from 217 launches 20 in 10044 hits $2,870 not computed 217 none Pin Colony Sim
5 19 in 100 earned $100k+, from 626 launches 19 in 100119 hits $4,860 not computed 626 none Pin Online Co-Op
6 Building19 in 100 earned $100k+, from 817 launches 19 in 100153 hits $2,486 not computed 817 none Pin Building

19 in 100 earned $100k+, from 817 launches at any price, West-facing view. That is about 3.2 times the base rate.

Base rate at any price, West-facing view: 1 in 17 (1,546 of 26,280 launches earned $100k+).

Typical first year $2,486. Top 1 in 10 is not computed for lenses yet.

Lens check, all pricesHolds in 3 of 3. Standard: the yardstick. West-facing view: holds. Without the breakout: holds. Last 18 months: holds.

No warning markers: no single game holds half the money, the sample is 50+ launches and the audience split is small.

Chance of $100k+ at every price (Standard lens)
PriceChanceLaunchesTypical
All prices19 in 100844$2,297
Under $51 in 63253$253
$5 to $101 in 20258$1,914
$10 to $2031 in 100245$22,519
$20 to $4072 in 10088$307,201

Grey: under 30 launches at that price, written as a count. Odds compare best within one price.

Best tag pairs inside, at any price, West-facing view

Open genre pageCheck this idea
7 18 in 100 earned $100k+, from 115 launches 18 in 10021 hits $6,509 not computed 115 Audience Pin Trading
8 18 in 100 earned $100k+, from 658 launches 18 in 100118 hits $3,712 not computed 658 none Pin Co-op
9 18 in 100 earned $100k+, from 819 launches 18 in 100146 hits $1,914 not computed 819 none Pin Open World
10 18 in 100 earned $100k+, from 74 launches 18 in 10013 hits $8,109 not computed 74 Audience Pin Trains
11 18 in 100 earned $100k+, from 97 launches 18 in 10017 hits $3,791 not computed 97 none Pin Mechs
12 17 in 100 earned $100k+, from 477 launches 17 in 10083 hits $1,986 not computed 477 none Pin City Builder
13 17 in 100 earned $100k+, from 623 launches 17 in 100104 hits $2,192 not computed 623 none Pin Crafting
14 17 in 100 earned $100k+, from 469 launches 17 in 10078 hits $4,046 not computed 469 none Pin Economy
15 16 in 100 earned $100k+, from 73 launches 16 in 10012 hits $2,128 not computed 73 none Pin World War II
16 16 in 100 earned $100k+, from 31 launches 16 in 1005 hits $1,530 not computed 31 Small Pin Dice
17 16 in 100 earned $100k+, from 87 launches 16 in 10014 hits $7,362 not computed 87 none Pin Job Simulator
18 16 in 100 earned $100k+, from 106 launches 16 in 10017 hits $4,824 not computed 106 Audience Pin FMV
19 16 in 100 earned $100k+, from 974 launches 16 in 100156 hits $3,747 not computed 974 none Pin Management
20 15 in 100 earned $100k+, from 1,172 launches 15 in 100181 hits $1,914 not computed 1,172 none Pin Sandbox
21 15 in 100 earned $100k+, from 218 launches 15 in 10033 hits $7,776 not computed 218 none Pin Roguelike Deckbuilder
22 15 in 100 earned $100k+, from 485 launches 15 in 10071 hits $2,301 not computed 485 none Pin Cozy
23 14 in 100 earned $100k+, from 285 launches 14 in 10041 hits $2,564 not computed 285 1-hitAudience Pin Automation
24 14 in 100 earned $100k+, from 42 launches 14 in 1006 hits $4,051 not computed 42 Small Pin Naval
25 14 in 100 earned $100k+, from 35 launches 14 in 1005 hits $3,203 not computed 35 1-hitSmall Pin Social Deduction
Show 25 moreShowing 25 of 253 genres
green beats the base ratecoral below it bar: the chance; amber tick: the base rate1-hit one game holds over half the moneySmall under 50 launches in this viewAudience reads differently for Western players

Under 30 launches a chance is written as a count ("3 of 12"), never as odds. Typical year is the middle launch's first-year earnings. Lenses, the one-hit share and the audience split are measured across all prices.

Releases

Ticker: 30 upcoming games dated within 90 days, with wishlist rank, release date and followers. The same list is on the Upcoming page.