Tag pairdata 30 Sep 2026

Detective + Investigation: a typical launch earns $3,963 in its first year

That is the median of 95 indie paid launches, 2024 Q4 to 2025 Q3. 37 of 187 matured launches earned $100k or more, against 19.6 expected for their price and launch quarter. Releases rose 46% on the year before: 150 against 103.

Price: $3,963
Price vs a year earlier: +130.4%
Releases, 12 months: 150
Upcoming games: 426
Games on the store: 1,027

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 + Investigation 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.	0.57%share of upcoming wishlist heat	0.36% to 0.79%	63 ranked of 426 upcoming gameswishlist rank 30 Sep 2026	#410 of 7,193pairs on this board
Launch successLaunches earning $100k or more, against the number expected for their price tier and launch quarter.	1.77xhits against expected	1.41x to 2.20x	187 launchesindie paid launches 31 Mar 2024 to 1 Apr 2026 (6 to 30 months old)	#312 of 6,324pairs on this board
Fewer new releasesFewer launches relative to players. Historically this did not predict better launches.	+5%player demand against new supply, relative to Steam	−20% to +32%	56 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025; releases 30 Sep 2025 to 30 Sep 2026 vs prior 12 months	#1,255 of 2,361pairs on this board
Rising demandGaining players faster than same-age games. Descriptive, not a launch signal.	+12%review growth against same-age games	+2% to +26%	56 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025	#231 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: 37
Expected: 19.6

Launches: 187
Hit rate: 19.8%13.1% to 26.1%
Expected rate: 10.5%
Against expected: 1.77x1.41x to 2.20x

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

187 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: $202
Median: $3,256
Top tenth: $229,930

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: 150
Prior 12 months: 103

Change: +46%
Against Steam: +6%after Steam-wide growth, shrunk by 5 releases

Parent tags

DetectiveNot a genreA theme, mood, feature or presentation tag: never ranked as a market on its own, only inside pairs.
InvestigationGenre 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
Point & Click + Detective$2,10470 launches priced, 109 releases in 12 months
Exploration + Detective$1,94182 launches priced, 113 releases in 12 months
Adventure + Detective$1,619120 launches priced, 201 releases in 12 months

Every pair with Detective

More with Investigation

pairs with Investigation

Story Rich + Investigation$8,90370 launches priced, 96 releases in 12 months
Visual Novel + Investigation$4,88542 launches priced, 55 releases in 12 months
Point & Click + Investigation$4,85753 launches priced, 84 releases in 12 months
Mystery + Investigation$3,336112 launches priced, 171 releases in 12 months
Simulation + Investigation$2,89337 launches priced, 79 releases in 12 months
Adventure + Investigation$2,183117 launches priced, 167 releases in 12 months

Every pair with Investigation

Verdicts

in development

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