Tag pairdata 30 Sep 2026
Niches / Action / Twin Stick Shooter
Action + Twin Stick Shooter: a typical launch earns $808 in its first year
That is the median of 96 indie paid launches, 2024 Q4 to 2025 Q3. 6 of 177 matured launches earned $100k or more, against 7.1 expected for their price and launch quarter. Releases rose 41% on the year before: 152 against 108.
- One game dominates the figure
- Price
- $808 median of 96 launches
- Price vs a year earlier
- +5.2% four quarters on the four before
- Releases, 12 months
- 152 108 the year before
- Upcoming games
- 425 coming soon on Steam
- Games on the store
- 1,302 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. | 0.10%share of upcoming wishlist heat | 0.05% to 0.16% | 23 ranked of 425 upcoming gameswishlist rank 30 Sep 2026 | #1,697 of 7,193pairs on this board |
Launch successLaunches earning $100k or more, against the number expected for their price tier and launch quarter.
| 0.89xhits against expected | 0.60x to 1.42x | 177 launchesindie paid launches 31 Mar 2024 to 1 Apr 2026 (6 to 30 months old) | #3,503 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 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
- 177
- Hit rate
- 3.4%1.6% to 6.7%
- Expected rate
- 4.0%
- Against expected
- 0.89x0.60x to 1.42x
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
177 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
- $546
- Top tenth
- $13,905
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
- +41%
Parent tags
- ActionNot a genreA theme, mood, feature or presentation tag: never ranked as a market on its own, only inside pairs.
- Twin Stick ShooterGenre pageRanked on every board, with its best pairs.
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.
- Cleared Hot (opens the Steam store)2025 · 3,954 reviews, 96% positiveest. $1.4M
- ENDLESS Dungeon™ - Definitive Edition (opens the Steam store)2023 · 2,955 reviews, 64% positiveest. $897k
- Windowkill (opens the Steam store)2024 · 3,399 reviews, 95% positiveest. $343k
- Galactic Glitch (opens the Steam store)2024 · 924 reviews, 89% positiveest. $243k
- Morsels (opens the Steam store)2025 · 553 reviews, 75% positiveest. $168k
- Mech Havoc (opens the Steam store)2025 · 825 reviews, 96% positiveest. $167k
- Go Mecha Ball (opens the Steam store)2024 · 372 reviews, 86% positiveest. $151k
- Genome Guardian 2 (opens the Steam store)2026 · 414 reviews, 95% positiveest. $134k
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
Related niches
pairs with Twin Stick Shooter- Roguelike + Twin Stick Shooter$2,02135 launches priced, 45 releases in 12 months
- Roguelite + Twin Stick Shooter$1,91144 launches priced, 66 releases in 12 months
- Twin Stick Shooter + Bullet Hell$1,69964 launches priced, 104 releases in 12 months
- Twin Stick Shooter + Action Roguelike$1,63752 launches priced, 90 releases in 12 months
- Arcade + Twin Stick Shooter$1,01169 launches priced, 100 releases in 12 months
- Shoot 'Em Up + Twin Stick Shooter$1,01145 launches priced, 67 releases in 12 months
Verdicts
in developmentGMD Verdicts will be a written read on a niche, built from the same data and the published method on this site. Join the early list and we will email you when the first ones are ready. Nothing on this page is held back while you wait.