Detective + Interactive Fiction: a typical launch earns $1,092 in its first year

That is the median of 49 indie paid launches, 2024 Q4 to 2025 Q3. 10 of 108 matured launches earned $100k or more, against 7.9 expected for their price and launch quarter. Releases rose 59% on the year before: 86 against 54.

Price: $1,092
Price vs a year earlier: +58.7%
Releases, 12 months: 86
Upcoming games: 218
Games on the store: 537

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.

Detective + Interactive Fiction 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. One game dominates the figure Listed after unflagged rows on this board	0.18%share of upcoming wishlist heat	0.07% to 0.32%	23 ranked of 218 upcoming gameswishlist rank 30 Sep 2026	#5,134 of 7,193pairs on this board
Launch successLaunches earning $100k or more, against the number expected for their price tier and launch quarter.	1.20xhits against expected	0.83x to 1.76x	108 launchesindie paid launches 31 Mar 2024 to 1 Apr 2026 (6 to 30 months old)	#1,779 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 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: 10
Expected: 7.9

Launches: 108
Hit rate: 9.3%4.9% to 14.3%
Expected rate: 7.3%
Against expected: 1.20x0.83x to 1.76x

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

108 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: $95
Median: $1,092
Top tenth: $71,022

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: 86
Prior 12 months: 54

Change: +59%

Parent tags

DetectiveNot a genreA theme, mood, feature or presentation tag: never ranked as a market on its own, only inside pairs.
Interactive FictionGenre pageRanked on every board, with its best 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 Detective

pairs with Detective

Visual Novel + Detective$5,29368 launches priced, 134 releases in 12 months
Detective + Mystery$5,207106 launches priced, 184 releases in 12 months
Story Rich + Detective$4,125108 launches priced, 153 releases in 12 months
Detective + Investigation$3,96395 launches priced, 150 releases in 12 months
Point & Click + Detective$2,10470 launches priced, 109 releases in 12 months
Exploration + Detective$1,94182 launches priced, 113 releases in 12 months

Every pair with Detective

More with Interactive Fiction

pairs with Interactive Fiction

Interactive Fiction + FMV$39,86745 launches priced, 64 releases in 12 months
Cinematic + Interactive Fiction$4,18748 launches priced, 48 releases in 12 months
Interactive Fiction + LGBTQ+$4,04637 launches priced, 62 releases in 12 months
Dating Sim + Interactive Fiction$3,15892 launches priced, 128 releases in 12 months
Romance + Interactive Fiction$3,13063 launches priced, 96 releases in 12 months
Story Rich + Interactive Fiction$2,268207 launches priced, 343 releases in 12 months

Every pair with Interactive Fiction

Verdicts

in development

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