Tag pairdata 30 Sep 2026
Colorful + Top-Down: a typical launch earns $323 in its first year
That is the median of 99 indie paid launches, 2024 Q4 to 2025 Q3. 5 of 210 matured launches earned $100k or more, against 6.3 expected for their price and launch quarter. Releases rose 42% on the year before: 173 against 122.
- Price
- $323 median of 99 launches
- Price vs a year earlier
- −20.1% four quarters on the four before
- Releases, 12 months
- 173 122 the year before
- Upcoming games
- 347 coming soon on Steam
- Games on the store
- 1,039 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.
| 0.05%share of upcoming wishlist heat | 0.02% to 0.09% | 10 ranked of 347 upcoming gameswishlist rank 30 Sep 2026 | #6,330 of 7,193pairs on this board |
| Launch successLaunches earning $100k or more, against the number expected for their price tier and launch quarter. | 0.86xhits against expected | 0.58x to 1.41x | 210 launchesindie paid launches 31 Mar 2024 to 1 Apr 2026 (6 to 30 months old) | #3,689 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
- 210
- Hit rate
- 2.4%0.9% to 5.1%
- Expected rate
- 3.0%
- Against expected
- 0.86x0.58x to 1.41x
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
210 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
- $303
- Top tenth
- $4,017
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
- +42%
Parent tags
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.
- Formula Legends (opens the Steam store)2025 · 875 reviews, 82% positiveest. $354k
- Super Woden GP 2 (opens the Steam store)2023 · 989 reviews, 88% positiveest. $260k
- NAIAD (opens the Steam store)2024 · 588 reviews, 95% positiveest. $238k
- Anode Heart (opens the Steam store)2023 · 438 reviews, 90% positiveest. $160k
- #BLUD (opens the Steam store)2024 · 299 reviews, 78% positiveest. $151k
- Poke ALL Toads (opens the Steam store)2026 · 450 reviews, 100% positiveest. $109k
- Chronoquartz (opens the Steam store)2025 · 513 reviews, 98% positiveest. $104k
- Cascadia (opens the Steam store)2024 · 211 reviews, 98% positiveest. $64k
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
More with Top-Down
pairs with Top-Down- Wargame + Top-Down$1,70031 launches priced, 51 releases in 12 months
- City Builder + Top-Down$1,55732 launches priced, 37 releases in 12 months
- Top-Down + Female Protagonist$1,09231 launches priced, 50 releases in 12 months
- Twin Stick Shooter + Top-Down$1,01140 launches priced, 58 releases in 12 months
- Roguelike + Top-Down$707143 launches priced, 271 releases in 12 months
- RTS + Top-Down$68543 launches priced, 75 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.