Tag pairdata 30 Sep 2026

Hidden Object + Cute: a typical launch earns $702 in its first year

That is the median of 219 indie paid launches, 2024 Q4 to 2025 Q3. 4 of 408 matured launches earned $100k or more, against 9.8 expected for their price and launch quarter. Releases fell 5% on the year before: 241 against 253.

Price: $702
Price vs a year earlier: −28.9%
Releases, 12 months: 241
Upcoming games: 240
Games on the store: 1,150

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.

Hidden Object + Cute 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	0.03% to 0.06%	14 ranked of 240 upcoming gameswishlist rank 30 Sep 2026	#2,611 of 7,193pairs on this board
Launch successLaunches earning $100k or more, against the number expected for their price tier and launch quarter.	0.55xhits against expected	0.37x to 0.92x	408 launchesindie paid launches 31 Mar 2024 to 1 Apr 2026 (6 to 30 months old)	#5,451 of 6,324pairs on this board
Fewer new releasesFewer launches relative to players. Historically this did not predict better launches.	+33%player demand against new supply, relative to Steam	+14% to +56%	92 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025; releases 30 Sep 2025 to 30 Sep 2026 vs prior 12 months	#428 of 2,361pairs on this board
Rising demandGaining players faster than same-age games. Descriptive, not a launch signal.	−6%review growth against same-age games	−11% to −1%	92 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025	#1,074 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: 4
Expected: 9.8

Launches: 408
Hit rate: 1.0%0.3% to 2.1%
Expected rate: 2.4%
Against expected: 0.55x0.37x to 0.92x

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

408 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: $81
Median: $762
Top tenth: $5,418

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: 241
Prior 12 months: 253

Change: −5%
Against Steam: −30%after Steam-wide growth, shrunk by 5 releases

Parent tags

Hidden ObjectGenre pageRanked on every board, with its best pairs.
CuteNot 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 Hidden Object

pairs with Hidden Object

Hidden Object + Detective$1,18352 launches priced, 73 releases in 12 months
Hidden Object + Story Rich$1,155101 launches priced, 94 releases in 12 months
Hidden Object + Visual Novel$1,05038 launches priced, 46 releases in 12 months
Hidden Object + Creature Collector$92239 launches priced, 35 releases in 12 months
Hidden Object + Funny$88938 launches priced, 67 releases in 12 months
Hidden Object + Cats$865105 launches priced, 132 releases in 12 months

Every pair with Hidden Object

More with Cute

pairs with Cute

Open World + Cute$5,88634 launches priced, 33 releases in 12 months
Cute + Romance$5,22277 launches priced, 90 releases in 12 months
Story Rich + Cute$3,396163 launches priced, 188 releases in 12 months
Cute + LGBTQ+$2,97434 launches priced, 56 releases in 12 months
Psychological Horror + Cute$2,84651 launches priced, 66 releases in 12 months
Visual Novel + Cute$2,798212 launches priced, 288 releases in 12 months

Every pair with Cute

Verdicts

in development

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