Tag pairdata 30 Sep 2026

Arcade + Cartoon: a typical launch earns $252 in its first year

That is the median of 92 indie paid launches, 2024 Q4 to 2025 Q3. 3 of 156 matured launches earned $100k or more, against 7.2 expected for their price and launch quarter. Releases fell 9% on the year before: 102 against 112.

Price: $252
Price vs a year earlier: −22.1%
Releases, 12 months: 102
Upcoming games: 166
Games on the store: 673

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.

Arcade + Cartoon 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.	0.05%share of upcoming wishlist heat	0.03% to 0.07%	11 ranked of 166 upcoming gameswishlist rank 30 Sep 2026	#2,563 of 7,193pairs on this board
Launch successLaunches earning $100k or more, against the number expected for their price tier and launch quarter.	0.59xhits against expected	0.41x to 1.01x	156 launchesindie paid launches 31 Mar 2024 to 1 Apr 2026 (6 to 30 months old)	#5,305 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: 3
Expected: 7.2

Launches: 156
Hit rate: 1.9%0.0% to 3.9%
Expected rate: 4.6%
Against expected: 0.59x0.41x to 1.01x

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

156 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: $271
Top tenth: $10,273

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: 102
Prior 12 months: 112

Change: −9%

Parent tags

ArcadeGenre pageRanked on every board, with its best pairs.
CartoonNot 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 Arcade

pairs with Arcade

Co-op + Arcade$1,37646 launches priced, 69 releases in 12 months
Arcade + Twin Stick Shooter$1,01169 launches priced, 100 releases in 12 months
Arcade + Female Protagonist$96168 launches priced, 82 releases in 12 months
Arcade + Local Co-Op$96050 launches priced, 58 releases in 12 months
Arcade + Anime$91052 launches priced, 96 releases in 12 months
Arcade + Difficult$80679 launches priced, 145 releases in 12 months

Every pair with Arcade

More with Cartoon

pairs with Cartoon

Exploration + Cartoon$48541 launches priced, 51 releases in 12 months
Simulation + Cartoon$44567 launches priced, 77 releases in 12 months
Puzzle + Cartoon$443100 launches priced, 105 releases in 12 months
Adventure + Cartoon$424113 launches priced, 132 releases in 12 months
Cartoon + Family Friendly$40551 launches priced, 57 releases in 12 months
Platformer + Cartoon$36446 launches priced, 45 releases in 12 months

Every pair with Cartoon

Verdicts

in development

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