Tag pairdata 30 Sep 2026
Niches / Casual / Beat 'em up
Casual + Beat 'em up: a typical launch earns $101 in its first year
That is the median of 48 indie paid launches, 2024 Q4 to 2025 Q3. 2 of 97 matured launches earned $100k or more, against 3.6 expected for their price and launch quarter. Releases rose 8% on the year before: 68 against 63.
- Price
- $101 median of 48 launches
- Price vs a year earlier
- −16.7% four quarters on the four before
- Releases, 12 months
- 68 63 the year before
- Upcoming games
- 153 coming soon on Steam
- Games on the store
- 516 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. | Below this board's minimum sample, so not ranked. Needs 5 or more wishlist-ranked upcoming games. | |||
| Launch successLaunches earning $100k or more, against the number expected for their price tier and launch quarter. | 0.75xhits against expected | 0.55x to 1.34x | 97 launchesindie paid launches 31 Mar 2024 to 1 Apr 2026 (6 to 30 months old) | #4,383 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
- 97
- Hit rate
- 2.1%0.0% to 4.7%
- Expected rate
- 3.7%
- Against expected
- 0.75x0.55x to 1.34x
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
97 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
- $121
- Top tenth
- $6,683
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
- +8%
Parent tags
- CasualNot a genreA theme, mood, feature or presentation tag: never ranked as a market on its own, only inside pairs.
- Beat 'em upGenre 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.
- Alien Hominid Invasion (opens the Steam store)2023 · 1,570 reviews, 88% positiveest. $636k
- STAR WARS™: Episode I: Jedi Power Battles™ (opens the Steam store)2025 · 358 reviews, 78% positiveest. $145k
- Maktala: Slime Lootfest (opens the Steam store)2025 · 1,354 reviews, 79% positiveest. $137k
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Arcade: Wrath of the Mutants (opens the Steam store)2024 · 67 reviews, 59% positiveest. $41k
- RUSHING BEAT X: Return Of Brawl Brothers (opens the Steam store)2026 · 78 reviews, 76% positiveest. $32k
- Shaolin vs Wutang Legends (opens the Steam store)2025 · 64 reviews, 95% positiveest. $26k
- MiceGard (opens the Steam store)2024 · 88 reviews, 84% positiveest. $23k
- Mayhemers (opens the Steam store)2025 · 154 reviews, 84% positiveest. $22k
More with Casual
pairs with Casual- Casual + Job Simulator$8,44230 launches priced, 54 releases in 12 months
- Casual + LGBTQ+$4,15442 launches priced, 95 releases in 12 months
- Casual + Romance$2,61486 launches priced, 137 releases in 12 months
- Casual + Economy$2,204112 launches priced, 302 releases in 12 months
- Casual + Online Co-Op$1,970104 launches priced, 272 releases in 12 months
- Casual + Capitalism$1,92351 launches priced, 130 releases in 12 months
Related niches
pairs with Beat 'em up- Beat 'em up + Action Roguelike$1,49632 launches priced, 49 releases in 12 months
- Pixel Graphics + Beat 'em up$82946 launches priced, 36 releases in 12 months
- Side Scroller + Beat 'em up$81039 launches priced, 43 releases in 12 months
- Combat + Beat 'em up$80933 launches priced, 44 releases in 12 months
- 2D + Beat 'em up$78964 launches priced, 69 releases in 12 months
- Beat 'em up + Action RPG$60730 launches priced, 44 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.