Tag pairdata 30 Sep 2026

Exploration + Combat: a typical launch earns $1,173 in its first year

That is the median of 56 indie paid launches, 2024 Q4 to 2025 Q3. 15 of 119 matured launches earned $100k or more, against 13.8 expected for their price and launch quarter. Releases rose 22% on the year before: 88 against 72.

Price: $1,173
Price vs a year earlier: −57.0%
Releases, 12 months: 88
Upcoming games: 363
Games on the store: 673

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 + Combat 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	0.33% to 0.85%	54 ranked of 363 upcoming gameswishlist rank 30 Sep 2026	#430 of 7,193pairs on this board
Launch successLaunches earning $100k or more, against the number expected for their price tier and launch quarter.	1.07xhits against expected	0.78x to 1.49x	119 launchesindie paid launches 31 Mar 2024 to 1 Apr 2026 (6 to 30 months old)	#2,379 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	+14%player demand against new supply, relative to Steam	−15% to +46%	15 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025; releases 30 Sep 2025 to 30 Sep 2026 vs prior 12 months	#949 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	+2%review growth against same-age games	−9% to +15%	15 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025	#1,898 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: 15
Expected: 13.8

Launches: 119
Hit rate: 12.6%9.0% to 19.9%
Expected rate: 11.6%
Against expected: 1.07x0.78x to 1.49x

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

119 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: $1,214
Top tenth: $148,329

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: 88
Prior 12 months: 72

Change: +22%
Against Steam: −11%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.
CombatNot 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 Exploration

pairs with Exploration

Exploration + Cozy$24,01549 launches priced, 99 releases in 12 months
Exploration + Open World Survival Craft$13,97334 launches priced, 26 releases in 12 months
Driving + Exploration$10,40830 launches priced, 42 releases in 12 months
Exploration + Multiplayer$8,00174 launches priced, 137 releases in 12 months
Exploration + Online Co-Op$7,08069 launches priced, 134 releases in 12 months
Co-op + Exploration$5,14762 launches priced, 101 releases in 12 months

Every pair with Exploration

More with Combat

pairs with Combat

Combat + Action RPG$1,57755 launches priced, 70 releases in 12 months
Roguelite + Combat$1,20546 launches priced, 87 releases in 12 months
Hack and Slash + Combat$80946 launches priced, 66 releases in 12 months
Combat + Beat 'em up$80933 launches priced, 44 releases in 12 months
RPG + Combat$76896 launches priced, 139 releases in 12 months
Sci-fi + Combat$75948 launches priced, 60 releases in 12 months

Every pair with Combat

Verdicts

in development

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