Tag pairdata 30 Sep 2026

Dark + Mystery: a typical launch earns $850 in its first year

That is the median of 124 indie paid launches, 2024 Q4 to 2025 Q3. 12 of 254 matured launches earned $100k or more, against 10.6 expected for their price and launch quarter. Releases rose 31% on the year before: 186 against 142.

Price: $850
Price vs a year earlier: −53.3%
Releases, 12 months: 186
Upcoming games: 436
Games on the store: 1,101

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.

Dark + Mystery 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.	0.22%share of upcoming wishlist heat	0.17% to 0.28%	37 ranked of 436 upcoming gameswishlist rank 30 Sep 2026	#986 of 7,193pairs on this board
Launch successLaunches earning $100k or more, against the number expected for their price tier and launch quarter.	1.11xhits against expected	0.78x to 1.61x	254 launchesindie paid launches 31 Mar 2024 to 1 Apr 2026 (6 to 30 months old)	#2,179 of 6,324pairs on this board
Fewer new releasesFewer launches relative to players. Historically this did not predict better launches.	+12%player demand against new supply, relative to Steam	−7% to +39%	41 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025; releases 30 Sep 2025 to 30 Sep 2026 vs prior 12 months	#1,021 of 2,361pairs on this board
Rising demandGaining players faster than same-age games. Descriptive, not a launch signal.	+7%review growth against same-age games	−1% to +18%	41 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025	#445 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: 12
Expected: 10.6

Launches: 254
Hit rate: 4.7%2.9% to 7.7%
Expected rate: 4.2%
Against expected: 1.11x0.78x to 1.61x

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

254 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: $40
Median: $889
Top tenth: $21,786

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: 186
Prior 12 months: 142

Change: +31%
Against Steam: −4%after Steam-wide growth, shrunk by 5 releases

Parent tags

DarkNot a genreA theme, mood, feature or presentation tag: never ranked as a market on its own, only inside pairs.
MysteryNot 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 Dark

pairs with Dark

RPG + Dark$3,32642 launches priced, 68 releases in 12 months
Dark + Female Protagonist$3,04831 launches priced, 31 releases in 12 months
Dark + Supernatural$2,48942 launches priced, 63 releases in 12 months
Story Rich + Dark$2,427120 launches priced, 161 releases in 12 months
Dark + Choices Matter$2,30338 launches priced, 62 releases in 12 months
Visual Novel + Dark$1,85867 launches priced, 112 releases in 12 months

Every pair with Dark

More with Mystery

pairs with Mystery

Mystery + Choices Matter$6,00949 launches priced, 114 releases in 12 months
Anime + Mystery$5,55743 launches priced, 65 releases in 12 months
Mystery + Female Protagonist$5,30753 launches priced, 76 releases in 12 months
Detective + Mystery$5,207106 launches priced, 184 releases in 12 months
Cinematic + Mystery$4,60234 launches priced, 41 releases in 12 months
Surreal + Mystery$4,52440 launches priced, 57 releases in 12 months

Every pair with Mystery

Verdicts

in development

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