Tag pairdata 30 Sep 2026
Niches / Action RPG / Bullet Hell
Action RPG + Bullet Hell: a typical launch earns $606 in its first year
That is the median of 69 indie paid launches, 2024 Q4 to 2025 Q3. 3 of 131 matured launches earned $100k or more, against 4.4 expected for their price and launch quarter. Releases rose 12% on the year before: 86 against 77.
- Price
- $606 median of 69 launches
- Price vs a year earlier
- −60.4% four quarters on the four before
- Releases, 12 months
- 86 77 the year before
- Upcoming games
- 254 coming soon on Steam
- Games on the store
- 616 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. | 0.08%share of upcoming wishlist heat | 0.04% to 0.13% | 15 ranked of 254 upcoming gameswishlist rank 30 Sep 2026 | #1,985 of 7,193pairs on this board |
| Launch successLaunches earning $100k or more, against the number expected for their price tier and launch quarter. | 0.81xhits against expected | 0.57x to 1.40x | 131 launchesindie paid launches 31 Mar 2024 to 1 Apr 2026 (6 to 30 months old) | #3,993 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
- 131
- Hit rate
- 2.3%0.7% to 7.6%
- Expected rate
- 3.3%
- Against expected
- 0.81x0.57x to 1.40x
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
131 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
- $707
- Top tenth
- $14,296
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
- +12%
Parent tags
- Action RPGGenre pageRanked on every board, with its best pairs.
- Bullet HellGenre 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.
- Homura Hime (opens the Steam store)2026 · 2,370 reviews, 90% positiveest. $1.1M
- Wanderburg (opens the Steam store)2026 · 2,888 reviews, 78% positiveest. $829k
- NanoApostle (opens the Steam store)2024 · 1,195 reviews, 95% positiveest. $484k
- FatalZone (opens the Steam store)2023 · 2,127 reviews, 66% positiveest. $280k
- Funguys Swarm (opens the Steam store)2025 · 1,118 reviews, 89% positiveest. $226k
- The Great Rebellion (opens the Steam store)2024 · 547 reviews, 96% positiveest. $177k
- Soulbound: Online (opens the Steam store)2026 · 582 reviews, 58% positiveest. $177k
- Pesticide Not Required (opens the Steam store)2024 · 817 reviews, 93% positiveest. $108k
More with Action RPG
pairs with Action RPG- Action RPG + Loot$5,00732 launches priced, 55 releases in 12 months
- Action RPG + Female Protagonist$2,63047 launches priced, 67 releases in 12 months
- Action RPG + Isometric$2,42839 launches priced, 51 releases in 12 months
- Anime + Action RPG$2,40730 launches priced, 64 releases in 12 months
- Action RPG + Dark Fantasy$2,34646 launches priced, 94 releases in 12 months
- Metroidvania + Action RPG$1,94335 launches priced, 49 releases in 12 months
More with Bullet Hell
pairs with Bullet Hell- Bullet Hell + Bullet Heaven$14,81455 launches priced, 178 releases in 12 months
- Bullet Hell + Female Protagonist$4,45135 launches priced, 39 releases in 12 months
- Difficult + Bullet Hell$2,12150 launches priced, 58 releases in 12 months
- Twin Stick Shooter + Bullet Hell$1,69964 launches priced, 104 releases in 12 months
- Hack and Slash + Bullet Hell$1,41563 launches priced, 86 releases in 12 months
- Bullet Hell + Procedural Generation$1,36634 launches priced, 34 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.