Emotional + Interactive Fiction: a typical launch earns $1,513 in its first year

That is the median of 65 indie paid launches, 2024 Q4 to 2025 Q3. 9 of 116 matured launches earned $100k or more, against 6.9 expected for their price and launch quarter. Releases rose 3% on the year before: 89 against 86.

Price: $1,513
Price vs a year earlier: −21.2%
Releases, 12 months: 89
Upcoming games: 214
Games on the store: 583

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.

Emotional + 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.	0.05%share of upcoming wishlist heat	0.04% to 0.06%	15 ranked of 214 upcoming gameswishlist rank 30 Sep 2026	#2,584 of 7,193pairs on this board
Launch successLaunches earning $100k or more, against the number expected for their price tier and launch quarter.	1.21xhits against expected	0.84x to 1.81x	116 launchesindie paid launches 31 Mar 2024 to 1 Apr 2026 (6 to 30 months old)	#1,691 of 6,324pairs on this board
Fewer new releasesFewer launches relative to players. Historically this did not predict better launches.	+46%player demand against new supply, relative to Steam	+7% to +97%	38 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025; releases 30 Sep 2025 to 30 Sep 2026 vs prior 12 months	#233 of 2,361pairs on this board
Rising demandGaining players faster than same-age games. Descriptive, not a launch signal.	+11%review growth against same-age games	+4% to +18%	38 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025	#251 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: 9
Expected: 6.9

Launches: 116
Hit rate: 7.8%4.2% to 18.8%
Expected rate: 5.9%
Against expected: 1.21x0.84x to 1.81x

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

116 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: $61
Median: $1,483
Top tenth: $73,459

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: 89
Prior 12 months: 86

Change: +3%
Against Steam: −24%after Steam-wide growth, shrunk by 5 releases

Parent tags

EmotionalNot 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 Emotional

pairs with Emotional

Emotional + Hand-drawn$3,75736 launches priced, 43 releases in 12 months
Story Rich + Emotional$3,130121 launches priced, 200 releases in 12 months
Emotional + Multiple Endings$3,03442 launches priced, 72 releases in 12 months
Anime + Emotional$2,67157 launches priced, 94 releases in 12 months
Cute + Emotional$2,67167 launches priced, 92 releases in 12 months
Adventure + Emotional$2,488136 launches priced, 194 releases in 12 months

Every pair with Emotional

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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