Tag pairdata 30 Sep 2026
Niches / Cute / Immersive Sim
Cute + Immersive Sim: a typical launch earns $815 in its first year
That is the median of 74 indie paid launches, 2024 Q4 to 2025 Q3. 6 of 127 matured launches earned $100k or more, against 7.6 expected for their price and launch quarter. Releases rose 10% on the year before: 90 against 82.
- China market: over 35% of reviews are Chinese
- One game dominates the figure
- Price
- $815 median of 74 launches
- Price vs a year earlier
- −68.5% four quarters on the four before
- Releases, 12 months
- 90 82 the year before
- Upcoming games
- 203 coming soon on Steam
- Games on the store
- 506 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. | 0.12%share of upcoming wishlist heat | 0.07% to 0.18% | 18 ranked of 203 upcoming gameswishlist rank 30 Sep 2026 | #1,574 of 7,193pairs on this board |
Launch successLaunches earning $100k or more, against the number expected for their price tier and launch quarter.
| 0.85xhits against expected | 0.58x to 1.34x | 127 launchesindie paid launches 31 Mar 2024 to 1 Apr 2026 (6 to 30 months old) | #6,178 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
- 127
- Hit rate
- 4.7%2.3% to 10.3%
- Expected rate
- 6.0%
- Against expected
- 0.85x0.58x to 1.34x
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
127 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
- $969
- Top tenth
- $29,116
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
- +10%
Parent tags
- CuteNot 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.
- Chill with You : Lo-Fi Story (opens the Steam store)2025 · 12,357 reviews, 98% positiveest. $2.1M
- Restore Your Island (opens the Steam store)2026 · 1,661 reviews, 77% positiveest. $437k
- Shashingo: Learn Japanese with Photography (opens the Steam store)2024 · 653 reviews, 90% positiveest. $264k
- Tsuki ni Yorisou Otome no Sahou 2 (opens the Steam store)2025 · 291 reviews, 96% positiveest. $236k
- MakeRoom (opens the Steam store)2025 · 1,054 reviews, 94% positiveest. $213k
- Mudborne: Frog Management Sim (opens the Steam store)2025 · 1,001 reviews, 96% positiveest. $162k
- College Bowl (opens the Steam store)2024 · 265 reviews, 84% positiveest. $134k
- Snail Simulator (opens the Steam store)2023 · 1,276 reviews, 98% positiveest. $129k
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
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
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.