Tag pairdata 30 Sep 2026
Niches / Grand Strategy / Wargame
Grand Strategy + Wargame: a typical launch earns $4,048 in its first year
That is the median of 36 indie paid launches, 2024 Q4 to 2025 Q3. 8 of 75 matured launches earned $100k or more, against 9.9 expected for their price and launch quarter. Releases rose 12% on the year before: 57 against 51.
- Price
- $4,048 median of 36 launches
- Price vs a year earlier
- +100.0% four quarters on the four before
- Releases, 12 months
- 57 51 the year before
- Upcoming games
- 141 coming soon on Steam
- Games on the store
- 466 carrying both tags
Boards
as of 30 Sep 2026Where this pair stands on each board of the front page. Every value carries its 90% interval and its sample.
| Board | Value | Interval | Sample | Standing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Most anticipatedShare of all upcoming wishlist heat on Steam, with the number of upcoming games beside it. | 0.10%share of upcoming wishlist heat | 0.06% to 0.13% | 20 ranked of 141 upcoming gameswishlist rank 30 Sep 2026 | #1,799 of 7,193pairs on this board |
| Launch successLaunches earning $100k or more, against the number expected for their price tier and launch quarter. | 0.85xhits against expected | 0.59x to 1.27x | 75 launchesindie paid launches 31 Mar 2024 to 1 Apr 2026 (6 to 30 months old) | #3,749 of 6,324pairs on this board |
| Fewer new releasesFewer launches relative to players. Historically this did not predict better launches. | Below this board's minimum sample, so not ranked. Needs 15 or more tracked games and 20 or more releases in each 12-month period. | |||
| Rising demandGaining players faster than same-age games. Descriptive, not a launch signal. | Below this board's minimum sample, so not ranked. Needs 15 or more tracked games and 1,000 reviews in each window. | |||
Pairs are noisier than genres: the demand boards at pair level are indicative only.
Launch success
launches 6 to 30 months oldMatured indie paid launches that earned an estimated $100k or more, against the number expected for games at the same price tier and launch quarter.
- Launches
- 75
- Hit rate
- 10.7%5.8% to 21.3%
- Expected rate
- 13.2%
- Against expected
- 0.85x0.59x 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
75 launchesEstimated 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
- $2,429
- Top tenth
- $93,027
Estimated from Steam review counts. Lifetime to date, so it differs from the first-year price above.
Supply
raw release countsGames released with both tags, last 12 months against the 12 before.
- Change
- +12%
Parent tags
- Grand StrategyGenre pageRanked on every board, with its best pairs.
- WargameGenre pageRanked on every board, with its best pairs.
Comparable games
8 indie titlesThe 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.
- Age of History 3 (opens the Steam store)2024 · 18,246 reviews, 85% positiveest. $3.6M
- Heroes' Vow: Three Kingdoms (opens the Steam store)2025 · 7,011 reviews, 87% positiveest. $1.7M
- ICBM: Escalation (opens the Steam store)2024 · 1,256 reviews, 86% positiveest. $763k
- Empire of the Ants (opens the Steam store)2024 · 931 reviews, 73% positiveest. $754k
- Arms Trade Tycoon: Tanks (opens the Steam store)2024 · 1,005 reviews, 65% positiveest. $610k
- Field of Glory: Kingdoms (opens the Steam store)2024 · 280 reviews, 81% positiveest. $227k
- Solar Nations 2 (opens the Steam store)2025 · 622 reviews, 85% positiveest. $189k
- Armored Brigade II (opens the Steam store)2025 · 147 reviews, 87% positiveest. $119k
More with Grand Strategy
pairs with Grand Strategy- RTS + Grand Strategy$2,63033 launches priced, 35 releases in 12 months
- Simulation + Grand Strategy$2,63057 launches priced, 121 releases in 12 months
- Turn-Based Strategy + Grand Strategy$2,49838 launches priced, 55 releases in 12 months
- Casual + Grand Strategy$1,31543 launches priced, 40 releases in 12 months
- 2D + Grand Strategyno price63 releases in 12 months
- Real Time Tactics + Grand Strategyno price41 releases in 12 months
More with Wargame
pairs with Wargame- Historical + Wargame$4,50234 launches priced, 56 releases in 12 months
- RTS + Wargame$3,54550 launches priced, 91 releases in 12 months
- Turn-Based Strategy + Wargame$2,26565 launches priced, 97 releases in 12 months
- War + Wargame$2,18667 launches priced, 78 releases in 12 months
- Wargame + Turn-Based Tactics$1,92146 launches priced, 72 releases in 12 months
- Wargame + Top-Down$1,70031 launches priced, 51 releases in 12 months
Verdicts
in developmentGMD 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.