Tag pairdata 30 Sep 2026
Action + Colorful: a typical launch earns $324 in its first year
That is the median of 411 indie paid launches, 2024 Q4 to 2025 Q3. 25 of 810 matured launches earned $100k or more, against 41.4 expected for their price and launch quarter. Releases rose 25% on the year before: 651 against 519.
- Price
- $324 median of 411 launches
- Price vs a year earlier
- +1.0% four quarters on the four before
- Releases, 12 months
- 651 519 the year before
- Upcoming games
- 1,592 coming soon on Steam
- Games on the store
- 4,586 carrying both tags
Boards
as of 30 Sep 2026Where this pair stands on each board of the front page. Every value carries its 90% interval and its sample.
| Board | Value | Interval | Sample | Standing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Most anticipatedShare of all upcoming wishlist heat on Steam, with the number of upcoming games beside it. | 0.69%share of upcoming wishlist heat | 0.35% to 1.18% | 90 ranked of 1,594 upcoming gameswishlist rank 30 Sep 2026 | #350 of 7,193pairs on this board |
| Launch successLaunches earning $100k or more, against the number expected for their price tier and launch quarter. | 0.63xhits against expected | 0.47x to 0.84x | 810 launchesindie paid launches 31 Mar 2024 to 1 Apr 2026 (6 to 30 months old) | #5,107 of 6,324pairs on this board |
Fewer new releasesFewer launches relative to players. Historically this did not predict better launches.
| +10%player demand against new supply, relative to Steam | −1% to +28% | 103 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025; releases 30 Sep 2025 to 30 Sep 2026 vs prior 12 months | #1,088 of 2,361pairs on this board |
Rising demandGaining players faster than same-age games. Descriptive, not a launch signal.
| +2%review growth against same-age games | −7% to +11% | 103 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025 | #1,893 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 oldMatured indie paid launches that earned an estimated $100k or more, against the number expected for games at the same price tier and launch quarter.
- Launches
- 810
- Hit rate
- 3.1%2.1% to 5.0%
- Expected rate
- 5.1%
- Against expected
- 0.63x0.47x to 0.84x
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
810 launchesEstimated lifetime gross of the same matured launches. Half earned less than the median; one in ten earned more than the top figure.
- Bottom tenth
- $0
- Median
- $293
- Top tenth
- $9,157
Estimated from Steam review counts. Lifetime to date, so it differs from the first-year price above.
Supply
raw release countsGames released with both tags, last 12 months against the 12 before.
- Change
- +25%
- Against Steam
- −8%after Steam-wide growth, shrunk by 5 releases
Parent tags
Comparable games
8 indie titlesThe 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.
- Rift of the NecroDancer (opens the Steam store)2025 · 5,934 reviews, 93% positiveest. $2.3M
- Mycopunk (opens the Steam store)2025 · 4,097 reviews, 88% positiveest. $1.2M
- Cloudheim (opens the Steam store)2025 · 1,825 reviews, 81% positiveest. $1.1M
- Dungeon Rampage (opens the Steam store)2025 · 3,134 reviews, 91% positiveest. $951k
- Sumerian Six (opens the Steam store)2024 · 1,106 reviews, 94% positiveest. $672k
- Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Rita's Rewind (opens the Steam store)2024 · 714 reviews, 65% positiveest. $506k
- Duskfade (opens the Steam store)2026 · 832 reviews, 91% positiveest. $505k
- Darwin's Paradox! (opens the Steam store)2026 · 873 reviews, 87% positiveest. $442k
More with Action
pairs with Action- Action + Mechs$7,85932 launches priced, 46 releases in 12 months
- Action + Bullet Heaven$6,31331 launches priced, 177 releases in 12 months
- Action + Co-op$3,733172 launches priced, 259 releases in 12 months
- Action + Team-Based$2,97239 launches priced, 71 releases in 12 months
- Action + Metroidvania$2,893107 launches priced, 128 releases in 12 months
- Action + Fighting$2,52840 launches priced, 34 releases in 12 months
More with Colorful
pairs with Colorful- Colorful + Cozy$3,63859 launches priced, 123 releases in 12 months
- Story Rich + Colorful$3,39962 launches priced, 88 releases in 12 months
- Visual Novel + Colorful$2,68975 launches priced, 112 releases in 12 months
- Colorful + Emotional$2,00335 launches priced, 44 releases in 12 months
- Colorful + Life Sim$1,85851 launches priced, 69 releases in 12 months
- Magic + Colorful$1,66832 launches priced, 38 releases in 12 months
Verdicts
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