Tag pairdata 30 Sep 2026

Detective + Mystery: a typical launch earns $5,207 in its first year

That is the median of 106 indie paid launches, 2024 Q4 to 2025 Q3. 46 of 220 matured launches earned $100k or more, against 21.6 expected for their price and launch quarter. Releases rose 57% on the year before: 184 against 117.

Price: $5,207
Price vs a year earlier: +202.7%
Releases, 12 months: 184
Upcoming games: 474
Games on the store: 1,314

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 + 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.	0.56%share of upcoming wishlist heat	0.38% to 0.84%	61 ranked of 474 upcoming gameswishlist rank 30 Sep 2026	#431 of 7,193pairs on this board
Launch successLaunches earning $100k or more, against the number expected for their price tier and launch quarter.	1.99xhits against expected	1.62x to 2.42x	220 launchesindie paid launches 31 Mar 2024 to 1 Apr 2026 (6 to 30 months old)	#161 of 6,324pairs on this board
Fewer new releasesFewer launches relative to players. Historically this did not predict better launches.	−2%player demand against new supply, relative to Steam	−18% to +20%	84 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025; releases 30 Sep 2025 to 30 Sep 2026 vs prior 12 months	#1,499 of 2,361pairs on this board
Rising demandGaining players faster than same-age games. Descriptive, not a launch signal.	+13%review growth against same-age games	+4% to +19%	84 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025	#186 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: 46
Expected: 21.6

Launches: 220
Hit rate: 20.9%13.8% to 27.5%
Expected rate: 9.8%
Against expected: 1.99x1.62x to 2.42x

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

220 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: $141
Median: $3,983
Top tenth: $226,450

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: 184
Prior 12 months: 117

Change: +57%
Against Steam: +14%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.
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 Detective

pairs with Detective

Visual Novel + Detective$5,29368 launches priced, 134 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
Adventure + Detective$1,619120 launches priced, 201 releases in 12 months

Every pair with Detective

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
Cinematic + Mystery$4,60234 launches priced, 41 releases in 12 months
Surreal + Mystery$4,52440 launches priced, 57 releases in 12 months
Mystery + Investigation$3,336112 launches priced, 171 releases in 12 months

Every pair with Mystery

Verdicts

in development

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