Tag pairdata 30 Sep 2026

Mystery + Investigation: a typical launch earns $3,336 in its first year

That is the median of 112 indie paid launches, 2024 Q4 to 2025 Q3. 42 of 212 matured launches earned $100k or more, against 20.3 expected for their price and launch quarter. Releases rose 44% on the year before: 171 against 119.

Price: $3,336
Price vs a year earlier: +57.0%
Releases, 12 months: 171
Upcoming games: 509
Games on the store: 1,158

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.

Mystery + Investigation 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.	0.63%share of upcoming wishlist heat	0.42% to 0.81%	65 ranked of 509 upcoming gameswishlist rank 30 Sep 2026	#376 of 7,193pairs on this board
Launch successLaunches earning $100k or more, against the number expected for their price tier and launch quarter.	1.93xhits against expected	1.56x to 2.37x	212 launchesindie paid launches 31 Mar 2024 to 1 Apr 2026 (6 to 30 months old)	#198 of 6,324pairs on this board
Fewer new releasesFewer launches relative to players. Historically this did not predict better launches.	+8%player demand against new supply, relative to Steam	−17% to +40%	67 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025; releases 30 Sep 2025 to 30 Sep 2026 vs prior 12 months	#1,173 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	+4% to +24%	67 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025	#157 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: 42
Expected: 20.3

Launches: 212
Hit rate: 19.8%14.9% to 27.2%
Expected rate: 9.6%
Against expected: 1.93x1.56x to 2.37x

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

212 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: $122
Median: $2,458
Top tenth: $225,657

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: 171
Prior 12 months: 119

Change: +44%
Against Steam: +5%after Steam-wide growth, shrunk by 5 releases

Parent tags

MysteryNot a genreA theme, mood, feature or presentation tag: never ranked as a market on its own, only inside pairs.
InvestigationGenre 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 Mystery

pairs with Mystery

Mystery + Choices Matter$6,00949 launches priced, 114 releases in 12 months
Anime + Mystery$5,55743 launches priced, 65 releases in 12 months
Mystery + Female Protagonist$5,30753 launches priced, 76 releases in 12 months
Detective + Mystery$5,207106 launches priced, 184 releases in 12 months
Cinematic + Mystery$4,60234 launches priced, 41 releases in 12 months
Surreal + Mystery$4,52440 launches priced, 57 releases in 12 months

Every pair with Mystery

More with Investigation

pairs with Investigation

Story Rich + Investigation$8,90370 launches priced, 96 releases in 12 months
Visual Novel + Investigation$4,88542 launches priced, 55 releases in 12 months
Point & Click + Investigation$4,85753 launches priced, 84 releases in 12 months
Detective + Investigation$3,96395 launches priced, 150 releases in 12 months
Simulation + Investigation$2,89337 launches priced, 79 releases in 12 months
Adventure + Investigation$2,183117 launches priced, 167 releases in 12 months

Every pair with Investigation

Verdicts

in development

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