Tag pairdata 30 Sep 2026

Building + Economy: a typical launch earns $7,770 in its first year

That is the median of 95 indie paid launches, 2024 Q4 to 2025 Q3. 39 of 168 matured launches earned $100k or more, against 21.5 expected for their price and launch quarter. Releases rose 14% on the year before: 122 against 107.

Price: $7,770
Price vs a year earlier: −27.3%
Releases, 12 months: 122
Upcoming games: 441
Games on the store: 979

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 + Economy 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.	0.68%share of upcoming wishlist heat	0.44% to 0.94%	56 ranked of 441 upcoming gameswishlist rank 30 Sep 2026	#354 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	1.38x to 2.11x	168 launchesindie paid launches 31 Mar 2024 to 1 Apr 2026 (6 to 30 months old)	#368 of 6,324pairs on this board
Fewer new releasesFewer launches relative to players. Historically this did not predict better launches.	+12%player demand against new supply, relative to Steam	−14% to +35%	83 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025; releases 30 Sep 2025 to 30 Sep 2026 vs prior 12 months	#1,020 of 2,361pairs on this board
Rising demandGaining players faster than same-age games. Descriptive, not a launch signal.	−8%review growth against same-age games	−16% to 0%	83 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025	#1,172 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: 39
Expected: 21.5

Launches: 168
Hit rate: 22.8%17.7% to 33.0%
Expected rate: 12.8%
Against expected: 1.72x1.38x to 2.11x

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

167 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: $277
Median: $7,785
Top tenth: $317,268

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: 122
Prior 12 months: 107

Change: +14%
Against Steam: −18%after Steam-wide growth, shrunk by 5 releases

Parent tags

BuildingGenre pageRanked on every board, with its best pairs.
EconomyNot 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 + Immersive Sim$7,64451 launches priced, 53 releases in 12 months
Building + First-Person$7,38241 launches priced, 60 releases in 12 months

Every pair with Building

More with Economy

pairs with Economy

Trading + Economy$24,39844 launches priced, 105 releases in 12 months
Sandbox + Economy$15,26966 launches priced, 136 releases in 12 months
Economy + Shop Keeper$15,12233 launches priced, 133 releases in 12 months
Economy + Life Sim$15,00083 launches priced, 128 releases in 12 months
Economy + Immersive Sim$14,95288 launches priced, 116 releases in 12 months
Realistic + Economy$10,95531 launches priced, 37 releases in 12 months

Every pair with Economy

Verdicts

in development

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