Tag pairdata 30 Sep 2026
Combat + PvE: a typical launch earns $313 in its first year
That is the median of 52 indie paid launches, 2024 Q4 to 2025 Q3. 4 of 111 matured launches earned $100k or more, against 5.9 expected for their price and launch quarter. Releases rose 20% on the year before: 103 against 86.
- One game dominates the figure
- Price
- $313 median of 52 launches
- Price vs a year earlier
- −70.1% four quarters on the four before
- Releases, 12 months
- 103 86 the year before
- Upcoming games
- 291 coming soon on Steam
- Games on the store
- 616 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.
| 0.20%share of upcoming wishlist heat | 0.05% to 0.35% | 16 ranked of 291 upcoming gameswishlist rank 30 Sep 2026 | #5,077 of 7,193pairs on this board |
Launch successLaunches earning $100k or more, against the number expected for their price tier and launch quarter.
| 0.78xhits against expected | 0.54x to 1.31x | 111 launchesindie paid launches 31 Mar 2024 to 1 Apr 2026 (6 to 30 months old) | #4,207 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
- 111
- Hit rate
- 3.6%0.9% to 7.8%
- Expected rate
- 5.3%
- Against expected
- 0.78x0.54x to 1.31x
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
111 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
- $405
- Top tenth
- $11,473
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%
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.
- Deep Rock Galactic: Rogue Core (opens the Steam store)2026 · 14,134 reviews, 60% positiveest. $8M
- Solo Leveling: ARISE OVERDRIVE (opens the Steam store)2025 · 7,710 reviews, 71% positiveest. $6M
- Crimson Moon (opens the Steam store)2026 · 2,827 reviews, 58% positiveest. $1.1M
- Masters of Albion (opens the Steam store)2026 · 610 reviews, 64% positiveest. $309k
- Cargo Hunters (opens the Steam store)2026 · 754 reviews, 83% positiveest. $305k
- Forgotten Seas (opens the Steam store)2024 · 477 reviews, 75% positiveest. $241k
- FROGGY HATES SNOW (opens the Steam store)2026 · 459 reviews, 91% positiveest. $139k
- Serum: Toxic Survival (opens the Steam store)2024 · 253 reviews, 45% positiveest. $128k
More with Combat
pairs with Combat- Combat + Action RPG$1,57755 launches priced, 70 releases in 12 months
- Roguelite + Combat$1,20546 launches priced, 87 releases in 12 months
- Exploration + Combat$1,17356 launches priced, 88 releases in 12 months
- Hack and Slash + Combat$80946 launches priced, 66 releases in 12 months
- Combat + Beat 'em up$80933 launches priced, 44 releases in 12 months
- RPG + Combat$76896 launches priced, 139 releases in 12 months
More with PvE
pairs with PvE- Co-op + PvE$16,63155 launches priced, 88 releases in 12 months
- Online Co-Op + PvE$5,26063 launches priced, 100 releases in 12 months
- Multiplayer + PvE$2,00370 launches priced, 120 releases in 12 months
- PvE + Deckbuilding$1,11233 launches priced, 40 releases in 12 months
- Dungeon Crawler + PvE$1,06262 launches priced, 97 releases in 12 months
- Hack and Slash + PvE$1,06166 launches priced, 101 releases in 12 months
Verdicts
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