Tag pairdata 30 Sep 2026

Horror + Surreal: a typical launch earns $1,799 in its first year

That is the median of 122 indie paid launches, 2024 Q4 to 2025 Q3. 16 of 245 matured launches earned $100k or more, against 9.4 expected for their price and launch quarter. Releases rose 18% on the year before: 163 against 138.

Price: $1,799
Price vs a year earlier: +27.4%
Releases, 12 months: 163
Upcoming games: 376
Games on the store: 996

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 + Surreal 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.	0.40%share of upcoming wishlist heat	0.23% to 0.65%	50 ranked of 376 upcoming gameswishlist rank 30 Sep 2026	#576 of 7,193pairs on this board
Launch successLaunches earning $100k or more, against the number expected for their price tier and launch quarter.	1.54xhits against expected	1.11x to 2.15x	245 launchesindie paid launches 31 Mar 2024 to 1 Apr 2026 (6 to 30 months old)	#650 of 6,324pairs on this board
Fewer new releasesFewer launches relative to players. Historically this did not predict better launches.	+35%player demand against new supply, relative to Steam	+10% to +66%	62 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025; releases 30 Sep 2025 to 30 Sep 2026 vs prior 12 months	#395 of 2,361pairs on this board
Rising demandGaining players faster than same-age games. Descriptive, not a launch signal.	+17%review growth against same-age games	+8% to +29%	62 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025	#73 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: 16
Expected: 9.4

Launches: 245
Hit rate: 6.5%5.2% to 14.4%
Expected rate: 3.8%
Against expected: 1.54x1.11x to 2.15x

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

245 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: $1,780
Top tenth: $66,378

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: 163
Prior 12 months: 138

Change: +18%
Against Steam: −13%after Steam-wide growth, shrunk by 5 releases

Parent tags

HorrorGenre pageRanked on every board, with its best pairs.
SurrealNot 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 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 Surreal

pairs with Surreal

Surreal + Mystery$4,52440 launches priced, 57 releases in 12 months
Surreal + Story Rich$3,23865 launches priced, 92 releases in 12 months
Surreal + Psychological Horror$2,906127 launches priced, 153 releases in 12 months
Surreal + Exploration$2,424100 launches priced, 135 releases in 12 months
Surreal + Walking Simulator$1,81971 launches priced, 118 releases in 12 months
Surreal + Psychological$1,78330 launches priced, 41 releases in 12 months

Every pair with Surreal

Verdicts

in development

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