Tag pairdata 30 Sep 2026

Exploration + Physics: a typical launch earns $2,060 in its first year

That is the median of 74 indie paid launches, 2024 Q4 to 2025 Q3. 21 of 137 matured launches earned $100k or more, against 9.7 expected for their price and launch quarter. Releases rose 52% on the year before: 123 against 81.

Price: $2,060
Price vs a year earlier: +110.4%
Releases, 12 months: 123
Upcoming games: 434
Games on the store: 873

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 + Physics 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.	0.77%share of upcoming wishlist heat	0.54% to 0.99%	70 ranked of 434 upcoming gameswishlist rank 30 Sep 2026	#313 of 7,193pairs on this board
Launch successLaunches earning $100k or more, against the number expected for their price tier and launch quarter.	1.90xhits against expected	1.42x to 2.52x	137 launchesindie paid launches 31 Mar 2024 to 1 Apr 2026 (6 to 30 months old)	#220 of 6,324pairs on this board
Fewer new releasesFewer launches relative to players. Historically this did not predict better launches.	−17%player demand against new supply, relative to Steam	−34% to +10%	33 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025; releases 30 Sep 2025 to 30 Sep 2026 vs prior 12 months	#1,916 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	−17% to +2%	33 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025	#1,209 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: 21
Expected: 9.7

Launches: 137
Hit rate: 15.3%10.8% to 22.3%
Expected rate: 7.0%
Against expected: 1.90x1.42x to 2.52x

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

137 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: $32
Median: $1,415
Top tenth: $270,812

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: 123
Prior 12 months: 81

Change: +52%
Against Steam: +10%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.
PhysicsNot 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 Physics

pairs with Physics

Building + Physics$2,16430 launches priced, 52 releases in 12 months
Multiplayer + Physics$1,72852 launches priced, 181 releases in 12 months
Comedy + Physics$1,61742 launches priced, 99 releases in 12 months
Sandbox + Physics$1,24262 launches priced, 145 releases in 12 months
Psychological Horror + Physics$1,11244 launches priced, 49 releases in 12 months
Physics + VR$99134 launches priced, 42 releases in 12 months

Every pair with Physics

Verdicts

in development

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