Tag pairdata 30 Sep 2026

Action + Surreal: a typical launch earns $939 in its first year

That is the median of 62 indie paid launches, 2024 Q4 to 2025 Q3. 6 of 125 matured launches earned $100k or more, against 5.9 expected for their price and launch quarter. Releases rose 6% on the year before: 76 against 72.

Price: $939
Price vs a year earlier: +54.8%
Releases, 12 months: 76
Upcoming games: 251
Games on the store: 664

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 + Surreal 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.	0.18%share of upcoming wishlist heat	0.09% to 0.26%	28 ranked of 251 upcoming gameswishlist rank 30 Sep 2026	#1,152 of 7,193pairs on this board
Launch successLaunches earning $100k or more, against the number expected for their price tier and launch quarter.	1.01xhits against expected	0.69x to 1.61x	125 launchesindie paid launches 31 Mar 2024 to 1 Apr 2026 (6 to 30 months old)	#2,716 of 6,324pairs on this board
Fewer new releasesFewer launches relative to players. Historically this did not predict better launches.	Below this board's minimum sample, so not ranked. Needs 15 or more tracked games and 20 or more releases in each 12-month period.
Rising demandGaining players faster than same-age games. Descriptive, not a launch signal.	Below this board's minimum sample, so not ranked. Needs 15 or more tracked games and 1,000 reviews in each window.

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: 6
Expected: 5.9

Launches: 125
Hit rate: 4.8%2.3% to 9.5%
Expected rate: 4.7%
Against expected: 1.01x0.69x to 1.61x

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

125 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: $4
Median: $971
Top tenth: $20,763

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: 76
Prior 12 months: 72

Change: +6%

Parent tags

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

pairs with Surreal

Surreal + Mystery$4,52440 launches priced, 57 releases in 12 months
Surreal + Story Rich$3,23865 launches priced, 92 releases in 12 months
Surreal + Psychological Horror$2,906127 launches priced, 153 releases in 12 months
Surreal + Exploration$2,424100 launches priced, 135 releases in 12 months
Surreal + Walking Simulator$1,81971 launches priced, 118 releases in 12 months
Horror + Surreal$1,799122 launches priced, 163 releases in 12 months

Every pair with Surreal

Verdicts

in development

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