Tag pairdata 30 Sep 2026

Crafting + Cute: a typical launch earns $1,516 in its first year

That is the median of 30 indie paid launches, 2024 Q4 to 2025 Q3. 8 of 63 matured launches earned $100k or more, against 5.8 expected for their price and launch quarter. Releases rose 82% on the year before: 62 against 34.

Price: $1,516
Price vs a year earlier: −51.9%
Releases, 12 months: 62
Upcoming games: 203
Games on the store: 408

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.

Crafting + Cute 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.	0.19%share of upcoming wishlist heat	0.11% to 0.27%	29 ranked of 203 upcoming gameswishlist rank 30 Sep 2026	#1,084 of 7,193pairs on this board
Launch successLaunches earning $100k or more, against the number expected for their price tier and launch quarter.	1.25xhits against expected	0.86x to 1.85x	63 launchesindie paid launches 31 Mar 2024 to 1 Apr 2026 (6 to 30 months old)	#1,540 of 6,324pairs on this board
Fewer new releasesFewer launches relative to players. Historically this did not predict better launches. One game dominates the figure	−18%player demand against new supply, relative to Steam	−45% to +20%	21 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025; releases 30 Sep 2025 to 30 Sep 2026 vs prior 12 months	#1,939 of 2,361pairs on this board
Rising demandGaining players faster than same-age games. Descriptive, not a launch signal. One game dominates the figure Listed after unflagged rows on this board	+4%review growth against same-age games	−11% to +26%	21 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025	#1,760 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: 8
Expected: 5.8

Launches: 63
Hit rate: 12.7%4.8% to 20.3%
Expected rate: 9.2%
Against expected: 1.25x0.86x to 1.85x

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

63 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: $20
Median: $2,751
Top tenth: $109,441

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: 62
Prior 12 months: 34

Change: +82%
Against Steam: +27%after Steam-wide growth, shrunk by 5 releases

Parent tags

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

pairs with Crafting

Crafting + Open World Survival Craft$26,87533 launches priced, 44 releases in 12 months
Crafting + Resource Management$9,79344 launches priced, 96 releases in 12 months
Crafting + Base Building$8,90179 launches priced, 125 releases in 12 months
Crafting + Life Sim$8,45137 launches priced, 65 releases in 12 months
Open World + Crafting$7,48760 launches priced, 105 releases in 12 months
Crafting + First-Person$6,99934 launches priced, 64 releases in 12 months

Every pair with Crafting

More with Cute

pairs with Cute

Open World + Cute$5,88634 launches priced, 33 releases in 12 months
Cute + Romance$5,22277 launches priced, 90 releases in 12 months
Story Rich + Cute$3,396163 launches priced, 188 releases in 12 months
Cute + LGBTQ+$2,97434 launches priced, 56 releases in 12 months
Psychological Horror + Cute$2,84651 launches priced, 66 releases in 12 months
Visual Novel + Cute$2,798212 launches priced, 288 releases in 12 months

Every pair with Cute

Verdicts

in development

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