Tag pairdata 30 Sep 2026
Niches / Horror / Hidden Object
Horror + Hidden Object: a typical launch earns $536 in its first year
That is the median of 190 indie paid launches, 2024 Q4 to 2025 Q3. 4 of 377 matured launches earned $100k or more, against 10.3 expected for their price and launch quarter. Releases rose 8% on the year before: 220 against 203.
- Price
- $536 median of 190 launches
- Price vs a year earlier
- −52.7% four quarters on the four before
- Releases, 12 months
- 220 203 the year before
- Upcoming games
- 281 coming soon on Steam
- Games on the store
- 1,188 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. | 0.09%share of upcoming wishlist heat | 0.03% to 0.16% | 10 ranked of 281 upcoming gameswishlist rank 30 Sep 2026 | #1,822 of 7,193pairs on this board |
| Launch successLaunches earning $100k or more, against the number expected for their price tier and launch quarter. | 0.53xhits against expected | 0.36x to 0.89x | 377 launchesindie paid launches 31 Mar 2024 to 1 Apr 2026 (6 to 30 months old) | #5,522 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
- 377
- Hit rate
- 1.1%0.0% to 3.5%
- Expected rate
- 2.7%
- Against expected
- 0.53x0.36x to 0.89x
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
377 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
- $40
- Median
- $668
- Top tenth
- $7,764
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
- +8%
Parent tags
- HorrorGenre pageRanked on every board, with its best pairs.
- Hidden ObjectGenre 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.
- Granny: Escape Together (opens the Steam store)2024 · 1,686 reviews, 79% positiveest. $341k
- Dead Signal (opens the Steam store)2023 · 1,010 reviews, 89% positiveest. $266k
- Anomaly Exit (opens the Steam store)2024 · 1,124 reviews, 89% positiveest. $136k
- True Fear: Forsaken Souls Part 3 (opens the Steam store)2025 · 650 reviews, 92% positiveest. $131k
- Dyping Escape (opens the Steam store)2026 · 550 reviews, 92% positiveest. $111k
- I'm on Observation Duty 7 (opens the Steam store)2024 · 428 reviews, 93% positiveest. $104k
- [Chilla's Art] Shinkansen 0 | 新幹線 0号 (opens the Steam store)2024 · 1,080 reviews, 85% positiveest. $84k
- BodyRecords (opens the Steam store)2025 · 588 reviews, 70% positiveest. $83k
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
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
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.