Tag pairdata 30 Sep 2026

Action + Side Scroller: a typical launch earns $324 in its first year

That is the median of 249 indie paid launches, 2024 Q4 to 2025 Q3. 23 of 545 matured launches earned $100k or more, against 32.3 expected for their price and launch quarter. Releases rose 28% on the year before: 386 against 302.

Price: $324
Price vs a year earlier: −46.6%
Releases, 12 months: 386
Upcoming games: 980
Games on the store: 3,388

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.

Action + Side Scroller 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.	0.48%share of upcoming wishlist heat	0.37% to 0.61%	70 ranked of 980 upcoming gameswishlist rank 30 Sep 2026	#495 of 7,193pairs on this board
Launch successLaunches earning $100k or more, against the number expected for their price tier and launch quarter.	0.74xhits against expected	0.55x to 0.99x	545 launchesindie paid launches 31 Mar 2024 to 1 Apr 2026 (6 to 30 months old)	#4,505 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	−4% to +27%	85 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025; releases 30 Sep 2025 to 30 Sep 2026 vs prior 12 months	#1,113 of 2,361pairs on this board
Rising demandGaining players faster than same-age games. Descriptive, not a launch signal.	+3%review growth against same-age games	−5% to +10%	85 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025	#677 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: 23
Expected: 32.3

Launches: 545
Hit rate: 4.2%2.4% to 7.9%
Expected rate: 5.9%
Against expected: 0.74x0.55x to 0.99x

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

545 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: $0
Median: $364
Top tenth: $27,636

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: 386
Prior 12 months: 302

Change: +28%
Against Steam: −6%after Steam-wide growth, shrunk by 5 releases

Parent tags

ActionNot a genreA theme, mood, feature or presentation tag: never ranked as a market on its own, only inside pairs.
Side ScrollerNot a genreA theme, mood, feature or presentation tag: never ranked as a market on its own, only inside 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 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

Every pair with Action

More with Side Scroller

pairs with Side Scroller

Metroidvania + Side Scroller$2,22542 launches priced, 38 releases in 12 months
Side Scroller + Female Protagonist$2,18344 launches priced, 48 releases in 12 months
Side Scroller + Difficult$1,56744 launches priced, 53 releases in 12 months
Hack and Slash + Side Scroller$1,41534 launches priced, 35 releases in 12 months
Side Scroller + Action RPG$1,06132 launches priced, 36 releases in 12 months
Side Scroller + Beat 'em up$81039 launches priced, 43 releases in 12 months

Every pair with Side Scroller

Verdicts

in development

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