Tag pairdata 30 Sep 2026
Niches / Arcade / Management
Arcade + Management: a typical launch earns $708 in its first year
That is the median of 34 indie paid launches, 2024 Q4 to 2025 Q3. 9 of 70 matured launches earned $100k or more, against 2.3 expected for their price and launch quarter. Releases rose 85% on the year before: 74 against 40.
- Price
- $708 median of 34 launches
- Price vs a year earlier
- n/a four quarters on the four before
- Releases, 12 months
- 74 40 the year before
- Upcoming games
- 173 coming soon on Steam
- Games on the store
- 357 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. | 0.04%share of upcoming wishlist heat | 0.02% to 0.06% | 9 ranked of 173 upcoming gameswishlist rank 30 Sep 2026 | #2,733 of 7,193pairs on this board |
| Launch successLaunches earning $100k or more, against the number expected for their price tier and launch quarter. | 2.28xhits against expected | 1.59x to 3.35x | 70 launchesindie paid launches 31 Mar 2024 to 1 Apr 2026 (6 to 30 months old) | #67 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
- 70
- Hit rate
- 12.9%6.7% to 17.2%
- Expected rate
- 3.2%
- Against expected
- 2.28x1.59x to 3.35x
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
70 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
- $767
- Top tenth
- $118,547
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
- +85%
Parent tags
- ArcadeGenre pageRanked on every board, with its best pairs.
- ManagementGenre 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.
- Scritchy Scratchy (opens the Steam store)2026 · 15,717 reviews, 94% positiveest. $2.1M
- Shelldiver (opens the Steam store)2025 · 16,989 reviews, 98% positiveest. $1.4M
- Nodebuster (opens the Steam store)2024 · 13,866 reviews, 97% positiveest. $840k
- iRacing Arcade (opens the Steam store)2026 · 1,212 reviews, 72% positiveest. $613k
- Outhold (opens the Steam store)2025 · 1,826 reviews, 86% positiveest. $258k
- Hoop Land (opens the Steam store)2025 · 714 reviews, 96% positiveest. $217k
- Trainatic (opens the Steam store)2025 · 1,092 reviews, 89% positiveest. $132k
- Budgie's Bug Shop (opens the Steam store)2026 · 1,029 reviews, 96% positiveest. $125k
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
More with Management
pairs with Management- Management + Shop Keeper$31,61235 launches priced, 187 releases in 12 months
- Trading + Management$22,06052 launches priced, 89 releases in 12 months
- Multiplayer + Management$19,88833 launches priced, 51 releases in 12 months
- Management + Colony Sim$15,78739 launches priced, 61 releases in 12 months
- Realistic + Management$13,70546 launches priced, 74 releases in 12 months
- Capitalism + Management$13,15777 launches priced, 165 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.