Genres

Ticker: price and year-over-year change for 40 genres. Price is the median estimated first-year revenue of indie paid launches. The change shows for genres with 100+ launches. The same figures are on the Genres page.

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192,217
on 3 Oct 2026

Genres 3 Oct

Of 233 genres with 10+ launches at $10 to $20, 77 beat the 18 in 100 base rate. Price moves the odds most: 1 in 219 under $5, 40 in 100 at $20 to $40.77 of 233 genres beat the 18 in 100 base rate.77 beat the base rate.

Typical launch, all prices, first year $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 12 to 36 months old, data 3 Oct 2026. A hit is an estimated first year of $100k+. Earnings are sales on Steam after discounts and regional prices, before Steam's 30% cut, refunds and sales tax. About 58% of it reaches the developer. The revenue estimate is soft: about 5 to 8 in 100 launches overall.

The genre list

Best odds at my priceChance of $100k+, read within one price band.Now: Shop Keeper, 49 in 100. 156 match.Steady marketsHolds in every lens and no single game owns it.Now: Online Co-Op, 35 in 100. 67 match.Biggest typical yearWhat the middle launch earned, highest first.Now: Shop Keeper, $92,344 typical. 156 match.Biggest upsideWhat the top tenth earned at least.Now: Co-op, $774k top 1 in 10. 118 match.Proven at scale100+ launches and above the base rate.Now: Cozy, 44 in 100. 38 match.Busiest marketsMost launches first: where the competition is.Now: Simulation, 876 launches. 156 match.
Hide one-hit markets37 outHide small samples115 out

233 of 256 genres have 10+ launches at $10 to $20. Sorted by chance of $100k+, highest first.

Parody 3 of 16 earned $100k+ at $10 to $20typical $5,171 Small
Class-Based 6 of 25 earned $100k+ at $10 to $20typical $11,770 SmallAudience
Artificial Intelligence 3 of 28 earned $100k+ at $10 to $20typical $1,897 Small
Genres at $10 to $20, sorted by chance of $100k+. The first row is the base rate.
Rank#GenreChance of $100k+Typical yearTop 1 in 10LaunchesMarkersPin
All games at $10 to $20the base rate: the row to beat 18 in 100758 of 4,301 $8,234$217,858 4,301
1 49 in 100 earned $100k+, from 37 launches 49 in 10018 hits $92,344 $655,133 37 1-hitSmall Pin Shop Keeper
2 48 in 100 earned $100k+, from 40 launches 48 in 10019 hits $74,499 $368,587 40 SmallAudience Pin FMV
3 44 in 100 earned $100k+, from 113 launches 44 in 10050 hits $88,250 $726,119 113 Audience Pin Cozy
4 9 of 21 launches earned $100k+ 9 of 219 hits $47,751 $341,641 21 Small Pin Typing
5 7 of 19 launches earned $100k+ 7 of 197 hits $19,427 $1,956,319 19 Small Pin Bullet Heaven
6 35 in 100 earned $100k+, from 142 launches 35 in 10050 hits $34,532 $649,488 142 none Pin Online Co-Op
7 35 in 100 earned $100k+, from 57 launches 35 in 10020 hits $39,498 $682,937 57 Audience Pin Cooking
8 34 in 100 earned $100k+, from 35 launches 34 in 10012 hits $32,017 $573,348 35 Small Pin Music
9 33 in 100 earned $100k+, from 51 launches 33 in 10017 hits $21,885 $740,563 51 none Pin Inventory Management
10 6 of 18 launches earned $100k+ 6 of 186 hits $17,302 $300,128 18 SmallAudience Pin Gun Customization
11 4 of 12 launches earned $100k+ 4 of 124 hits $17,312 $766,933 12 Small Pin Satire
12 33 in 100 earned $100k+, from 83 launches 33 in 10027 hits $33,396 $456,445 83 1-hit Pin Automation
13 32 in 100 earned $100k+, from 41 launches 32 in 10013 hits $22,478 $261,863 41 Small Pin Lovecraftian
14 31 in 100 earned $100k+, from 245 launches 31 in 10077 hits $22,519 $466,495 245 none Pin Building
15 31 in 100 earned $100k+, from 161 launches 31 in 10050 hits $32,655 $403,798 161 none Pin Economy
16 31 in 100 earned $100k+, from 94 launches 31 in 10029 hits $35,955 $687,081 94 Audience Pin Roguelike Deckbuilder
17 31 in 100 earned $100k+, from 157 launches 31 in 10048 hits $19,270 $774,181 157 none Pin Co-op
18 30 in 100 earned $100k+, from 233 launches 30 in 10071 hits $28,398 $363,930 233 none Pin Life Sim
19 3 of 10 launches earned $100k+ 3 of 103 hits $35,572 $4,698,618 10 Small Pin Asynchronous Multiplayer
20 3 of 10 launches earned $100k+ 3 of 103 hits $58,623 $687,081 10 Small Pin Dice
21 3 of 10 launches earned $100k+ 3 of 103 hits $27,931 $546,392 10 Small Pin Faith
22 30 in 100 earned $100k+, from 298 launches 30 in 10089 hits $31,612 $366,715 298 none Pin Management
23 30 in 100 earned $100k+, from 47 launches 30 in 10014 hits $10,039 $1,509,973 47 1-hitSmallAudience Pin Crime
24 Sandbox30 in 100 earned $100k+, from 360 launches 30 in 100107 hits $22,688 $436,654 360 Audience Pin Sandbox

30 in 100 earned $100k+, from 360 launches at $10 to $20. That is about 1.7 times the base rate.

Base rate at $10 to $20: 18 in 100 (758 of 4,301 launches earned $100k+).

Typical first year $22,688; the top 1 in 10 earned at least $436,654.

Lens check, all pricesAudience split. Standard: the base the others are compared with. West-facing view: moves the answer. Without the breakout: holds. Last 18 months: holds.

  • AudienceAudience split: this genre reads differently for Western players: the chance moves from 16 in 100 to 15 in 100 in the West-facing view (games mostly reviewed outside China). Review language is measured for games with 2,000+ reviews; for smaller games it is guessed from the name.
Chance of $100k+ at every price (Standard lens)
PriceChanceLaunchesTypical
All prices16 in 1001,219$1,882
Under $51 in 73435$202
$5 to $101 in 24329$1,822
$10 to $2030 in 100360$22,688
$20 to $4069 in 10095$355,406

Grey: under 30 launches or 5 hits at that price, written as a count. Odds compare best within one price.

Best tag pairs inside, at $10 to $20

Open genre pageCheck this idea
25 30 in 100 earned $100k+, from 213 launches 30 in 10063 hits $26,339 $460,726 213 none Pin Base Building
Show 25 moreShowing 25 of 233 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 or 5 hits 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.