Tag pairdata 30 Sep 2026

Casual + Colorful: a typical launch earns $282 in its first year

That is the median of 917 indie paid launches, 2024 Q4 to 2025 Q3. 56 of 1,775 matured launches earned $100k or more, against 68.9 expected for their price and launch quarter. Releases rose 35% on the year before: 1,519 against 1,124.

Price: $282
Price vs a year earlier: +16.4%
Releases, 12 months: 1,519
Upcoming games: 2,303
Games on the store: 8,359

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.

Casual + Colorful 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.	0.60%share of upcoming wishlist heat	0.48% to 0.75%	98 ranked of 2,306 upcoming gameswishlist rank 30 Sep 2026	#392 of 7,193pairs on this board
Launch successLaunches earning $100k or more, against the number expected for their price tier and launch quarter.	0.82xhits against expected	0.67x to 1.01x	1,775 launchesindie paid launches 31 Mar 2024 to 1 Apr 2026 (6 to 30 months old)	#3,964 of 6,324pairs on this board
Fewer new releasesFewer launches relative to players. Historically this did not predict better launches.	−4%player demand against new supply, relative to Steam	−11% to +5%	203 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025; releases 30 Sep 2025 to 30 Sep 2026 vs prior 12 months	#1,569 of 2,361pairs on this board
Rising demandGaining players faster than same-age games. Descriptive, not a launch signal.	−5%review growth against same-age games	−11% to 0%	203 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025	#1,025 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: 56
Expected: 68.9

Launches: 1,775
Hit rate: 3.2%2.4% to 5.7%
Expected rate: 3.9%
Against expected: 0.82x0.67x to 1.01x

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

1,775 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: $0
Median: $263
Top tenth: $8,740

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: 1,519
Prior 12 months: 1,124

Change: +35%
Against Steam: −1%after Steam-wide growth, shrunk by 5 releases

Parent tags

CasualNot a genreA theme, mood, feature or presentation tag: never ranked as a market on its own, only inside pairs.
ColorfulNot 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 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

Every pair with Casual

More with Colorful

pairs with Colorful

Colorful + Cozy$3,63859 launches priced, 123 releases in 12 months
Story Rich + Colorful$3,39962 launches priced, 88 releases in 12 months
Visual Novel + Colorful$2,68975 launches priced, 112 releases in 12 months
Colorful + Emotional$2,00335 launches priced, 44 releases in 12 months
Colorful + Life Sim$1,85851 launches priced, 69 releases in 12 months
Magic + Colorful$1,66832 launches priced, 38 releases in 12 months

Every pair with Colorful

Verdicts

in development

GMD 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.