Genres

Ticker: price and year-over-year change for 40 genres. Price is the median estimated first-year revenue of indie paid launches. The same figures are on the Genres page.

Text size
Game Market DataSteam market, quoted daily
Live games
191,514
on 30 Sep 2026

Tag pairdata 30 Sep 2026

Niches / Exploration / 3D Platformer

Exploration + 3D Platformer: a typical launch earns $405 in its first year

That is the median of 183 indie paid launches, 2024 Q4 to 2025 Q3. 22 of 352 matured launches earned $100k or more, against 23.5 expected for their price and launch quarter. Releases rose 2% on the year before: 235 against 231.

Price
$405
median of 183 launches
Price vs a year earlier
−16.3%
four quarters on the four before
Releases, 12 months
235
231 the year before
Upcoming games
767
coming soon on Steam
Games on the store
1,882
carrying both tags

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.

Exploration + 3D Platformer on each board
BoardValueIntervalSampleStanding
Most anticipatedShare of all upcoming wishlist heat on Steam, with the number of upcoming games beside it.0.52%share of upcoming wishlist heat0.37% to 0.66%74 ranked of 767 upcoming gameswishlist rank 30 Sep 2026#462 of 7,193pairs on this board
Launch successLaunches earning $100k or more, against the number expected for their price tier and launch quarter.0.94xhits against expected0.70x to 1.27x352 launchesindie paid launches 31 Mar 2024 to 1 Apr 2026 (6 to 30 months old)#3,150 of 6,324pairs on this board
Fewer new releasesFewer launches relative to players. Historically this did not predict better launches.+23%player demand against new supply, relative to Steam+5% to +41%73 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025; releases 30 Sep 2025 to 30 Sep 2026 vs prior 12 months#680 of 2,361pairs on this board
Rising demandGaining players faster than same-age games. Descriptive, not a launch signal.−8%review growth against same-age games−16% to 0%73 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025#1,168 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
22
Expected
23.5
Launches
352
Hit rate
6.3%3.5% to 9.1%
Expected rate
6.7%
Against expected
0.94x0.70x to 1.27x

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

352 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
$0
Median
$472
Top tenth
$44,224

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
235
Prior 12 months
231
Change
+2%
Against Steam
−25%after Steam-wide growth, shrunk by 5 releases

Parent tags

  • ExplorationNot a genreA theme, mood, feature or presentation tag: never ranked as a market on its own, only inside pairs.
  • 3D 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 Exploration

pairs with Exploration
Every pair with Exploration

More with 3D Platformer

pairs with 3D Platformer
Every pair with 3D Platformer

Verdicts

in development

GMD Verdicts will be a written read on a niche, built from the same data and the published method on this site. Join the early list and we will email you when the first ones are ready. Nothing on this page is held back while you wait.

Releases

Ticker: 30 upcoming games dated within 90 days, with wishlist rank, release date and followers. The same list is on the Upcoming page.