Tag pairdata 30 Sep 2026

Building + Base Building: a typical launch earns $3,288 in its first year

That is the median of 118 indie paid launches, 2024 Q4 to 2025 Q3. 54 of 233 matured launches earned $100k or more, against 30.2 expected for their price and launch quarter. Releases rose 29% on the year before: 165 against 128.

Price: $3,288
Price vs a year earlier: −62.7%
Releases, 12 months: 165
Upcoming games: 655
Games on the store: 1,501

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.

Building + Base Building 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.	2.38%share of upcoming wishlist heat	1.37% to 4.01%	117 ranked of 655 upcoming gameswishlist rank 30 Sep 2026	#91 of 7,193pairs on this board
Launch successLaunches earning $100k or more, against the number expected for their price tier and launch quarter.	1.72xhits against expected	1.42x to 2.06x	233 launchesindie paid launches 31 Mar 2024 to 1 Apr 2026 (6 to 30 months old)	#367 of 6,324pairs on this board
Fewer new releasesFewer launches relative to players. Historically this did not predict better launches.	−9%player demand against new supply, relative to Steam	−24% to +8%	108 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025; releases 30 Sep 2025 to 30 Sep 2026 vs prior 12 months	#1,716 of 2,361pairs on this board
Rising demandGaining players faster than same-age games. Descriptive, not a launch signal.	−14%review growth against same-age games	−22% to −7%	108 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025	#1,451 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: 54
Expected: 30.2

Launches: 233
Hit rate: 23.2%18.6% to 32.2%
Expected rate: 13.0%
Against expected: 1.72x1.42x to 2.06x

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

233 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: $101
Median: $4,042
Top tenth: $576,820

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: 165
Prior 12 months: 128

Change: +29%
Against Steam: −6%after Steam-wide growth, shrunk by 5 releases

Parent tags

BuildingGenre pageRanked on every board, with its best pairs.
Base BuildingNot 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 Building

pairs with Building

Building + Cozy$14,48232 launches priced, 66 releases in 12 months
Building + Life Sim$12,54245 launches priced, 64 releases in 12 months
Building + Colony Sim$11,53947 launches priced, 44 releases in 12 months
Building + Automation$8,28246 launches priced, 101 releases in 12 months
Building + Economy$7,77095 launches priced, 122 releases in 12 months
Building + Immersive Sim$7,64451 launches priced, 53 releases in 12 months

Every pair with Building

More with Base Building

pairs with Base Building

Base Building + Colony Sim$22,86553 launches priced, 64 releases in 12 months
RPG + Base Building$17,28632 launches priced, 49 releases in 12 months
Base Building + Automation$14,08239 launches priced, 83 releases in 12 months
RTS + Base Building$13,91454 launches priced, 61 releases in 12 months
Base Building + Management$12,38472 launches priced, 109 releases in 12 months
City Builder + Base Building$11,53773 launches priced, 109 releases in 12 months

Every pair with Base Building

Verdicts

in development

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