Tag pairdata 30 Sep 2026

Action + Tower Defense: a typical launch earns $253 in its first year

That is the median of 120 indie paid launches, 2024 Q4 to 2025 Q3. 10 of 252 matured launches earned $100k or more, against 9.9 expected for their price and launch quarter. Releases rose 63% on the year before: 222 against 136.

Price: $253
Price vs a year earlier: −37.5%
Releases, 12 months: 222
Upcoming games: 542
Games on the store: 1,542

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 + Tower Defense 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. One game dominates the figure Listed after unflagged rows on this board	0.90%share of upcoming wishlist heat	0.06% to 2.56%	21 ranked of 542 upcoming gameswishlist rank 30 Sep 2026	#4,338 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	0.70x to 1.51x	252 launchesindie paid launches 31 Mar 2024 to 1 Apr 2026 (6 to 30 months old)	#2,739 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	−17%player demand against new supply, relative to Steam	−33% to −4%	32 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025; releases 30 Sep 2025 to 30 Sep 2026 vs prior 12 months	#1,920 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	−13% to +7%	32 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025	#2,084 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: 10
Expected: 9.9

Launches: 252
Hit rate: 4.0%2.5% to 8.6%
Expected rate: 3.9%
Against expected: 1.01x0.70x to 1.51x

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

252 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: $283
Top tenth: $12,109

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: 222
Prior 12 months: 136

Change: +63%
Against Steam: +18%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.
Tower DefenseGenre 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 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 Tower Defense

pairs with Tower Defense

Tower Defense + City Builder$8,80032 launches priced, 43 releases in 12 months
Tower Defense + Base Building$2,00381 launches priced, 129 releases in 12 months
Tower Defense + Survival$1,61947 launches priced, 68 releases in 12 months
Tower Defense + Roguelite$1,516109 launches priced, 196 releases in 12 months
Tower Defense + Roguelike$1,17390 launches priced, 163 releases in 12 months
Tower Defense + Resource Management$1,13335 launches priced, 71 releases in 12 months

Every pair with Tower Defense

Verdicts

in development

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