Tag pairdata 30 Sep 2026
Niches / Casual / Immersive Sim
Casual + Immersive Sim: a typical launch earns $808 in its first year
That is the median of 276 indie paid launches, 2024 Q4 to 2025 Q3. 27 of 522 matured launches earned $100k or more, against 28.2 expected for their price and launch quarter. Releases rose 35% on the year before: 442 against 328.
- Price
- $808 median of 276 launches
- Price vs a year earlier
- −30.8% four quarters on the four before
- Releases, 12 months
- 442 328 the year before
- Upcoming games
- 836 coming soon on Steam
- Games on the store
- 2,273 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. | 0.64%share of upcoming wishlist heat | 0.49% to 0.83% | 83 ranked of 837 upcoming gameswishlist rank 30 Sep 2026 | #372 of 7,193pairs on this board |
| Launch successLaunches earning $100k or more, against the number expected for their price tier and launch quarter. | 0.96xhits against expected | 0.73x to 1.27x | 522 launchesindie paid launches 31 Mar 2024 to 1 Apr 2026 (6 to 30 months old) | #3,017 of 6,324pairs on this board |
| Fewer new releasesFewer launches relative to players. Historically this did not predict better launches. | 0%player demand against new supply, relative to Steam | −13% to +12% | 99 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025; releases 30 Sep 2025 to 30 Sep 2026 vs prior 12 months | #1,441 of 2,361pairs on this board |
| Rising demandGaining players faster than same-age games. Descriptive, not a launch signal. | −2%review growth against same-age games | −9% to +7% | 99 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025 | #892 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
- 522
- Hit rate
- 5.2%2.7% to 9.7%
- Expected rate
- 5.4%
- Against expected
- 0.96x0.73x to 1.27x
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
522 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
- $909
- Top tenth
- $43,376
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
- +35%
- Against Steam
- −2%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.
- Immersive SimGenre 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.
- House Flipper 2 (opens the Steam store)2023 · 16,619 reviews, 87% positiveest. $13M
- Retro Rewind - Video Store Simulator (opens the Steam store)2026 · 10,253 reviews, 95% positiveest. $4.1M
- Car Dealer Simulator (opens the Steam store)2025 · 9,993 reviews, 88% positiveest. $4M
- Streamer Life Simulator 2 (opens the Steam store)2025 · 6,768 reviews, 81% positiveest. $2.7M
- Chill with You : Lo-Fi Story (opens the Steam store)2025 · 12,357 reviews, 98% positiveest. $2.1M
- ContractVille (opens the Steam store)2024 · 5,694 reviews, 80% positiveest. $1.1M
- Parcel Simulator (opens the Steam store)2025 · 2,815 reviews, 93% positiveest. $1M
- Seafarer: The Ship Sim (opens the Steam store)2026 · 1,992 reviews, 64% positiveest. $1M
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
More with Immersive Sim
pairs with Immersive Sim- Cinematic + Immersive Sim$24,23132 launches priced, 35 releases in 12 months
- Capitalism + Immersive Sim$16,42037 launches priced, 52 releases in 12 months
- Multiplayer + Immersive Sim$15,00039 launches priced, 38 releases in 12 months
- Economy + Immersive Sim$14,95288 launches priced, 116 releases in 12 months
- Immersive Sim + Management$8,720136 launches priced, 195 releases in 12 months
- Building + Immersive Sim$7,64451 launches priced, 53 releases in 12 months
Verdicts
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