Tag pairdata 30 Sep 2026

2D + Souls-like: a typical launch earns $1,040 in its first year

That is the median of 46 indie paid launches, 2024 Q4 to 2025 Q3. 13 of 109 matured launches earned $100k or more, against 7.1 expected for their price and launch quarter. Releases rose 24% on the year before: 67 against 54.

Price: $1,040
Price vs a year earlier: +10.8%
Releases, 12 months: 67
Upcoming games: 228
Games on the store: 531

Boards

as of 30 Sep 2026

Where this pair stands on each board of the front page. Every value carries its 90% interval and its sample.

2D + Souls-like on each board
Board	Value	Interval	Sample	Standing
Most anticipatedShare of all upcoming wishlist heat on Steam, with the number of upcoming games beside it.	0.25%share of upcoming wishlist heat	0.16% to 0.36%	32 ranked of 228 upcoming gameswishlist rank 30 Sep 2026	#892 of 7,193pairs on this board
Launch successLaunches earning $100k or more, against the number expected for their price tier and launch quarter.	1.59xhits against expected	1.13x to 2.24x	109 launchesindie paid launches 31 Mar 2024 to 1 Apr 2026 (6 to 30 months old)	#573 of 6,324pairs on this board
Fewer new releasesFewer launches relative to players. Historically this did not predict better launches. One game dominates the figure	+8%player demand against new supply, relative to Steam	−24% to +37%	23 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025; releases 30 Sep 2025 to 30 Sep 2026 vs prior 12 months	#1,167 of 2,361pairs on this board
Rising demandGaining players faster than same-age games. Descriptive, not a launch signal. One game dominates the figure Listed after unflagged rows on this board	−2%review growth against same-age games	−11% to +8%	23 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025	#2,129 of 2,461pairs on this board

Pairs are noisier than genres: the demand boards at pair level are indicative only.

Launch success

launches 6 to 30 months old

Matured indie paid launches that earned an estimated $100k or more, against the number expected for games at the same price tier and launch quarter.

Hits: 13
Expected: 7.1

Launches: 109
Hit rate: 11.9%7.4% to 18.6%
Expected rate: 6.5%
Against expected: 1.59x1.13x to 2.24x

Launch window: indie paid launches 31 Mar 2024 to 1 Apr 2026 (6 to 30 months old). Hit odds are shrunk toward the Steam-wide rate by 3 expected hits.

Revenue spread

109 launches

Estimated lifetime gross of the same matured launches. Half earned less than the median; one in ten earned more than the top figure.

Bottom tenth: $16
Median: $867
Top tenth: $102,376

Estimated from Steam review counts. Lifetime to date, so it differs from the first-year price above.

Supply

raw release counts

Games released with both tags, last 12 months against the 12 before.

Last 12 months: 67
Prior 12 months: 54

Change: +24%
Against Steam: −10%after Steam-wide growth, shrunk by 5 releases

Parent tags

2DNot a genreA theme, mood, feature or presentation tag: never ranked as a market on its own, only inside pairs.
Souls-likeGenre pageRanked on every board, with its best pairs.

Comparable games

8 indie titles

The biggest indie games in this pair by estimated lifetime gross. Revenue is shown as a number at 50 or more reviews, as a range at 10 to 49, and not at all below 10.

More with 2D

pairs with 2D

2D + Roguelike Deckbuilder$6,77234 launches priced, 64 releases in 12 months
2D + Romance$3,28176 launches priced, 110 releases in 12 months
War + 2D$3,16035 launches priced, 55 releases in 12 months
2D + Dating Sim$2,55991 launches priced, 116 releases in 12 months
2D + LGBTQ+$2,46550 launches priced, 85 releases in 12 months
2D + Historical$2,32474 launches priced, 130 releases in 12 months

Every pair with 2D

More with Souls-like

pairs with Souls-like

Exploration + Souls-like$4,45048 launches priced, 72 releases in 12 months
RPG + Souls-like$3,09670 launches priced, 113 releases in 12 months
Difficult + Souls-like$2,12341 launches priced, 39 releases in 12 months
Action RPG + Souls-like$1,78076 launches priced, 118 releases in 12 months
Souls-like + Action Roguelike$1,41633 launches priced, 42 releases in 12 months
Hack and Slash + Souls-like$1,18654 launches priced, 70 releases in 12 months

Every pair with Souls-like

Verdicts

in development

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