Tag pairdata 30 Sep 2026

Economy + Life Sim: a typical launch earns $15,000 in its first year

That is the median of 83 indie paid launches, 2024 Q4 to 2025 Q3. 24 of 160 matured launches earned $100k or more, against 15.6 expected for their price and launch quarter. Releases rose 36% on the year before: 128 against 94.

Price: $15,000
Price vs a year earlier: +62.2%
Releases, 12 months: 128
Upcoming games: 282
Games on the store: 613

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.

Economy + Life Sim 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.	0.15%share of upcoming wishlist heat	0.12% to 0.20%	24 ranked of 282 upcoming gameswishlist rank 30 Sep 2026	#1,292 of 7,193pairs on this board
Launch successLaunches earning $100k or more, against the number expected for their price tier and launch quarter.	1.45xhits against expected	1.10x to 1.90x	160 launchesindie paid launches 31 Mar 2024 to 1 Apr 2026 (6 to 30 months old)	#842 of 6,324pairs on this board
Fewer new releasesFewer launches relative to players. Historically this did not predict better launches.	−13%player demand against new supply, relative to Steam	−26% to +8%	47 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025; releases 30 Sep 2025 to 30 Sep 2026 vs prior 12 months	#1,831 of 2,361pairs on this board
Rising demandGaining players faster than same-age games. Descriptive, not a launch signal.	−14%review growth against same-age games	−23% to −3%	47 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025	#1,445 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: 24
Expected: 15.6

Launches: 160
Hit rate: 15.0%8.1% to 26.0%
Expected rate: 9.7%
Against expected: 1.45x1.10x to 1.90x

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

160 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: $198
Median: $9,705
Top tenth: $162,063

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: 128
Prior 12 months: 94

Change: +36%
Against Steam: −1%after Steam-wide growth, shrunk by 5 releases

Parent tags

EconomyNot a genreA theme, mood, feature or presentation tag: never ranked as a market on its own, only inside pairs.
Life SimGenre 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 Economy

pairs with Economy

Trading + Economy$24,39844 launches priced, 105 releases in 12 months
Sandbox + Economy$15,26966 launches priced, 136 releases in 12 months
Economy + Shop Keeper$15,12233 launches priced, 133 releases in 12 months
Economy + Immersive Sim$14,95288 launches priced, 116 releases in 12 months
Realistic + Economy$10,95531 launches priced, 37 releases in 12 months
First-Person + Economy$9,96156 launches priced, 91 releases in 12 months

Every pair with Economy

More with Life Sim

pairs with Life Sim

Life Sim + Cozy$34,02737 launches priced, 66 releases in 12 months
Open World + Life Sim$13,38736 launches priced, 39 releases in 12 months
Building + Life Sim$12,54245 launches priced, 64 releases in 12 months
Life Sim + Management$9,996139 launches priced, 204 releases in 12 months
Capitalism + Life Sim$9,99633 launches priced, 50 releases in 12 months
Crafting + Life Sim$8,45137 launches priced, 65 releases in 12 months

Every pair with Life Sim

Verdicts

in development

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