Tag pairdata 30 Sep 2026

Horror + Action-Adventure: a typical launch earns $908 in its first year

That is the median of 327 indie paid launches, 2024 Q4 to 2025 Q3. 38 of 609 matured launches earned $100k or more, against 31.0 expected for their price and launch quarter. Releases fell 1% on the year before: 371 against 376.

Big publishers: over 85% from majors or $40+ games

Price: $908
Price vs a year earlier: −2.4%
Releases, 12 months: 371
Upcoming games: 1,081
Games on the store: 2,655

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.

Horror + Action-Adventure 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. One game dominates the figure Listed after unflagged rows on this board	2.08%share of upcoming wishlist heat	0.73% to 4.65%	110 ranked of 1,081 upcoming gameswishlist rank 30 Sep 2026	#4,008 of 7,193pairs on this board
Launch successLaunches earning $100k or more, against the number expected for their price tier and launch quarter. Big publishers: over 85% from majors or $40+ games	1.21xhits against expected	0.95x to 1.53x	609 launchesindie paid launches 31 Mar 2024 to 1 Apr 2026 (6 to 30 months old)	#1,725 of 6,324pairs on this board
Fewer new releasesFewer launches relative to players. Historically this did not predict better launches.	+55%player demand against new supply, relative to Steam	+35% to +85%	114 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025; releases 30 Sep 2025 to 30 Sep 2026 vs prior 12 months	#137 of 2,361pairs on this board
Rising demandGaining players faster than same-age games. Descriptive, not a launch signal.	+13%review growth against same-age games	+6% to +24%	114 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025	#166 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: 38
Expected: 31.0

Launches: 609
Hit rate: 6.2%3.2% to 9.0%
Expected rate: 5.1%
Against expected: 1.21x0.95x to 1.53x

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

609 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: $40
Median: $849
Top tenth: $29,454

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: 371
Prior 12 months: 376

Change: −1%
Against Steam: −27%after Steam-wide growth, shrunk by 5 releases

Parent tags

HorrorGenre pageRanked on every board, with its best pairs.
Action-AdventureGenre 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 Horror

pairs with Horror

Horror + Co-op$7,08089 launches priced, 127 releases in 12 months
Horror + Online Co-Op$5,819120 launches priced, 169 releases in 12 months
Horror + Multiplayer$5,680106 launches priced, 172 releases in 12 months
Horror + Lovecraftian$3,41850 launches priced, 72 releases in 12 months
Horror + Roguelike$3,33937 launches priced, 73 releases in 12 months
Horror + Text-Based$2,83130 launches priced, 65 releases in 12 months

Every pair with Horror

More with Action-Adventure

pairs with Action-Adventure

Action-Adventure + VR$6,75746 launches priced, 38 releases in 12 months
Co-op + Action-Adventure$4,36354 launches priced, 57 releases in 12 months
Online Co-Op + Action-Adventure$4,12753 launches priced, 80 releases in 12 months
Action-Adventure + Dark Fantasy$3,09649 launches priced, 105 releases in 12 months
Metroidvania + Action-Adventure$2,86390 launches priced, 117 releases in 12 months
Action-Adventure + Gore$2,02430 launches priced, 18 releases in 12 months

Every pair with Action-Adventure

Verdicts

in development

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