Tag pairdata 30 Sep 2026

Difficult + 2D Platformer: a typical launch earns $605 in its first year

That is the median of 106 indie paid launches, 2024 Q4 to 2025 Q3. 4 of 191 matured launches earned $100k or more, against 9.6 expected for their price and launch quarter. Releases fell 1% on the year before: 114 against 115.

Price: $605
Price vs a year earlier: −11.7%
Releases, 12 months: 114
Upcoming games: 252
Games on the store: 1,036

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.

Difficult + 2D Platformer 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.	0.11%share of upcoming wishlist heat	0.08% to 0.16%	22 ranked of 252 upcoming gameswishlist rank 30 Sep 2026	#1,591 of 7,193pairs on this board
Launch successLaunches earning $100k or more, against the number expected for their price tier and launch quarter.	0.55xhits against expected	0.38x to 0.93x	191 launchesindie paid launches 31 Mar 2024 to 1 Apr 2026 (6 to 30 months old)	#5,422 of 6,324pairs on this board
Fewer new releasesFewer launches relative to players. Historically this did not predict better launches. One game dominates the figure	+54%player demand against new supply, relative to Steam	+20% to +93%	29 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025; releases 30 Sep 2025 to 30 Sep 2026 vs prior 12 months	#146 of 2,361pairs on this board
Rising demandGaining players faster than same-age games. Descriptive, not a launch signal. One game dominates the figure Listed after unflagged rows on this board	+11%review growth against same-age games	−1% to +24%	29 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025	#1,594 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: 4
Expected: 9.6

Launches: 191
Hit rate: 1.6%0.0% to 5.9%
Expected rate: 5.0%
Against expected: 0.55x0.38x to 0.93x

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

190 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: $20
Median: $607
Top tenth: $15,915

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: 114
Prior 12 months: 115

Change: −1%
Against Steam: −28%after Steam-wide growth, shrunk by 5 releases

Parent tags

DifficultNot a genreA theme, mood, feature or presentation tag: never ranked as a market on its own, only inside pairs.
2D PlatformerGenre 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 Difficult

pairs with Difficult

RPG + Difficult$8,09240 launches priced, 39 releases in 12 months
Roguelike + Difficult$3,64173 launches priced, 93 releases in 12 months
Roguelite + Difficult$3,03570 launches priced, 97 releases in 12 months
Difficult + Action Roguelike$2,42672 launches priced, 73 releases in 12 months
Difficult + Souls-like$2,12341 launches priced, 39 releases in 12 months
Difficult + Bullet Hell$2,12150 launches priced, 58 releases in 12 months

Every pair with Difficult

More with 2D Platformer

pairs with 2D Platformer

Metroidvania + 2D Platformer$1,78091 launches priced, 107 releases in 12 months
Anime + 2D Platformer$1,17390 launches priced, 113 releases in 12 months
2D Platformer + Souls-like$96931 launches priced, 35 releases in 12 months
Sci-fi + 2D Platformer$84935 launches priced, 59 releases in 12 months
2D Platformer + Female Protagonist$84281 launches priced, 102 releases in 12 months
Hack and Slash + 2D Platformer$72841 launches priced, 55 releases in 12 months

Every pair with 2D Platformer

Verdicts

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