Tag pairdata 30 Sep 2026

Life Sim + Management: a typical launch earns $9,996 in its first year

That is the median of 139 indie paid launches, 2024 Q4 to 2025 Q3. 40 of 261 matured launches earned $100k or more, against 24.0 expected for their price and launch quarter. Releases rose 28% on the year before: 204 against 159.

Price: $9,996
Price vs a year earlier: −58.0%
Releases, 12 months: 204
Upcoming games: 523
Games on the store: 1,109

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.

Life Sim + Management 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.	0.52%share of upcoming wishlist heat	0.36% to 0.66%	59 ranked of 523 upcoming gameswishlist rank 30 Sep 2026	#451 of 7,193pairs on this board
Launch successLaunches earning $100k or more, against the number expected for their price tier and launch quarter.	1.59xhits against expected	1.27x to 1.98x	261 launchesindie paid launches 31 Mar 2024 to 1 Apr 2026 (6 to 30 months old)	#568 of 6,324pairs on this board
Fewer new releasesFewer launches relative to players. Historically this did not predict better launches.	+1%player demand against new supply, relative to Steam	−13% to +25%	80 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025; releases 30 Sep 2025 to 30 Sep 2026 vs prior 12 months	#1,415 of 2,361pairs on this board
Rising demandGaining players faster than same-age games. Descriptive, not a launch signal.	−5%review growth against same-age games	−15% to +6%	80 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025	#1,038 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: 40
Expected: 24.0

Launches: 261
Hit rate: 15.3%9.6% to 26.0%
Expected rate: 9.2%
Against expected: 1.59x1.27x to 1.98x

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

261 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: $301
Median: $7,219
Top tenth: $166,519

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: 204
Prior 12 months: 159

Change: +28%
Against Steam: −6%after Steam-wide growth, shrunk by 5 releases

Parent tags

Life SimGenre pageRanked on every board, with its best pairs.
ManagementGenre 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 Life Sim

pairs with Life Sim

Life Sim + Cozy$34,02737 launches priced, 66 releases in 12 months
Economy + Life Sim$15,00083 launches priced, 128 releases in 12 months
Open World + Life Sim$13,38736 launches priced, 39 releases in 12 months
Building + Life Sim$12,54245 launches priced, 64 releases in 12 months
Capitalism + Life Sim$9,99633 launches priced, 50 releases in 12 months
Crafting + Life Sim$8,45137 launches priced, 65 releases in 12 months

Every pair with Life Sim

More with Management

pairs with Management

Management + Shop Keeper$31,61235 launches priced, 187 releases in 12 months
Trading + Management$22,06052 launches priced, 89 releases in 12 months
Multiplayer + Management$19,88833 launches priced, 51 releases in 12 months
Management + Colony Sim$15,78739 launches priced, 61 releases in 12 months
Realistic + Management$13,70546 launches priced, 74 releases in 12 months
Capitalism + Management$13,15777 launches priced, 165 releases in 12 months

Every pair with Management

Verdicts

in development

GMD 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.