Tag pairdata 30 Sep 2026
Niches / Building / Management
Building + Management: a typical launch earns $7,179 in its first year
That is the median of 140 indie paid launches, 2024 Q4 to 2025 Q3. 67 of 269 matured launches earned $100k or more, against 35.1 expected for their price and launch quarter. Releases rose 20% on the year before: 191 against 159.
- Price
- $7,179 median of 140 launches
- Price vs a year earlier
- −45.0% four quarters on the four before
- Releases, 12 months
- 191 159 the year before
- Upcoming games
- 737 coming soon on Steam
- Games on the store
- 1,690 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. | 1.78%share of upcoming wishlist heat | 1.40% to 2.35% | 122 ranked of 737 upcoming gameswishlist rank 30 Sep 2026 | #126 of 7,193pairs on this board |
| Launch successLaunches earning $100k or more, against the number expected for their price tier and launch quarter. | 1.84xhits against expected | 1.55x to 2.16x | 269 launchesindie paid launches 31 Mar 2024 to 1 Apr 2026 (6 to 30 months old) | #266 of 6,324pairs on this board |
| Fewer new releasesFewer launches relative to players. Historically this did not predict better launches. | +10%player demand against new supply, relative to Steam | −5% to +26% | 146 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025; releases 30 Sep 2025 to 30 Sep 2026 vs prior 12 months | #1,120 of 2,361pairs on this board |
| Rising demandGaining players faster than same-age games. Descriptive, not a launch signal. | −4%review growth against same-age games | −12% to +4% | 146 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025 | #998 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 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
- 269
- Hit rate
- 24.6%19.0% to 32.8%
- Expected rate
- 13.0%
- Against expected
- 1.84x1.55x to 2.16x
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
268 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
- $243
- Median
- $7,777
- Top tenth
- $574,097
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
- +20%
- Against Steam
- −13%after Steam-wide growth, shrunk by 5 releases
Parent tags
- BuildingGenre 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.
- Manor Lords (opens the Steam store)2024 · 77,221 reviews, 84% positiveest. $60M
- Supermarket Simulator (opens the Steam store)2024 · 79,411 reviews, 92% positiveest. $32M
- Farming Simulator 25 (opens the Steam store)2024 · 40,166 reviews, 87% positiveest. $24M
- shapez 2 - Factory (opens the Steam store)2024 · 13,937 reviews, 96% positiveest. $8.1M
- Norland (opens the Steam store)2024 · 8,941 reviews, 81% positiveest. $5M
- ReStory: Chill Electronics Repairs (opens the Steam store)2026 · 9,704 reviews, 95% positiveest. $3.8M
- Town to City (opens the Steam store)2025 · 6,214 reviews, 97% positiveest. $3.7M
- Waterpark Simulator (opens the Steam store)2026 · 13,520 reviews, 96% positiveest. $3.5M
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
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.