Tag pairdata 30 Sep 2026

Interactive Fiction + FMV: a typical launch earns $39,867 in its first year

That is the median of 45 indie paid launches, 2024 Q4 to 2025 Q3. 25 of 85 matured launches earned $100k or more, against 7.8 expected for their price and launch quarter. Releases rose 19% on the year before: 64 against 54.

China market: over 35% of reviews are Chinese

Price: $39,867
Price vs a year earlier: +7.0%
Releases, 12 months: 64
Upcoming games: 79
Games on the store: 263

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.

Interactive Fiction + FMV 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.	0.02%share of upcoming wishlist heat	0.01% to 0.02%	6 ranked of 80 upcoming gameswishlist rank 30 Sep 2026	#3,541 of 7,193pairs on this board
Launch successLaunches earning $100k or more, against the number expected for their price tier and launch quarter. China market: over 35% of reviews are Chinese Listed after unflagged rows on this board	2.60xhits against expected	2.02x to 3.29x	85 launchesindie paid launches 31 Mar 2024 to 1 Apr 2026 (6 to 30 months old)	#5,817 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 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: 25
Expected: 7.8

Launches: 85
Hit rate: 29.4%19.9% to 45.5%
Expected rate: 9.1%
Against expected: 2.60x2.02x to 3.29x

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

85 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: $202
Median: $31,919
Top tenth: $249,603

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: 64
Prior 12 months: 54

Change: +19%

Parent tags

Interactive FictionGenre pageRanked on every board, with its best pairs.
FMVNot 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 Interactive Fiction

pairs with Interactive Fiction

Cinematic + Interactive Fiction$4,18748 launches priced, 48 releases in 12 months
Interactive Fiction + LGBTQ+$4,04637 launches priced, 62 releases in 12 months
Dating Sim + Interactive Fiction$3,15892 launches priced, 128 releases in 12 months
Romance + Interactive Fiction$3,13063 launches priced, 96 releases in 12 months
Story Rich + Interactive Fiction$2,268207 launches priced, 343 releases in 12 months
Mystery + Interactive Fiction$2,22579 launches priced, 113 releases in 12 months

Every pair with Interactive Fiction

More with FMV

pairs with FMV

Visual Novel + FMV$65,06531 launches priced, 48 releases in 12 months
Dating Sim + FMV$40,45030 launches priced, 28 releases in 12 months
RPG + FMV$25,57938 launches priced, 46 releases in 12 months
Casual + FMVno price47 releases in 12 months
Simulation + FMVno price44 releases in 12 months
Adventure + FMVno price40 releases in 12 months

Every pair with FMV

Verdicts

in development

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