Tag pairdata 30 Sep 2026
Niches / Perma Death / Arcade
Perma Death + Arcade: a typical launch earns $405 in its first year
That is the median of 45 indie paid launches, 2024 Q4 to 2025 Q3. 1 of 86 matured launches earned $100k or more, against 2.0 expected for their price and launch quarter. Releases rose 4% on the year before: 52 against 50.
- Price
- $405 median of 45 launches
- Price vs a year earlier
- −42.7% four quarters on the four before
- Releases, 12 months
- 52 50 the year before
- Upcoming games
- 96 coming soon on Steam
- Games on the store
- 364 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.
| 0.04%share of upcoming wishlist heat | 0.02% to 0.08% | 5 ranked of 96 upcoming gameswishlist rank 30 Sep 2026 | #6,483 of 7,193pairs on this board |
| Launch successLaunches earning $100k or more, against the number expected for their price tier and launch quarter. | 0.81xhits against expected | 0.65x to 1.48x | 86 launchesindie paid launches 31 Mar 2024 to 1 Apr 2026 (6 to 30 months old) | #4,039 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
- 86
- Hit rate
- 1.2%0.0% to 2.5%
- Expected rate
- 2.3%
- Against expected
- 0.81x0.65x to 1.48x
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
86 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
- $0
- Median
- $342
- Top tenth
- $4,195
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
- +4%
Parent tags
- Perma DeathNot a genreA theme, mood, feature or presentation tag: never ranked as a market on its own, only inside pairs.
- ArcadeGenre 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.
- Bendy: Lone Wolf (opens the Steam store)2025 · 262 reviews, 77% positiveest. $106k
- Plinbo: Roguelike Plinko (opens the Steam store)2026 · 381 reviews, 66% positiveest. $54k
- BEERCRUSH (opens the Steam store)2025 · 209 reviews, 100% positiveest. $21k
- TYPECAST (opens the Steam store)2023 · 146 reviews, 91% positiveest. $15k
- Hive Jump 2: Survivors (opens the Steam store)2024 · 101 reviews, 81% positiveest. $14k
- Bronana (opens the Steam store)2024 · 129 reviews, 68% positiveest. $13k
- Ascendant (opens the Steam store)2025 · 47 reviews, 70% positiveest. $1k to $10k
- The Candle (opens the Steam store)2025 · 71 reviews, 91% positiveest. $7.2k
More with Perma Death
pairs with Perma Death- Roguelike + Perma Death$1,97186 launches priced, 115 releases in 12 months
- Perma Death + Difficult$1,86936 launches priced, 33 releases in 12 months
- Strategy + Perma Death$1,81943 launches priced, 69 releases in 12 months
- RPG + Perma Death$1,51837 launches priced, 51 releases in 12 months
- Perma Death + Procedural Generation$1,51843 launches priced, 47 releases in 12 months
- Perma Death + Bullet Hell$70741 launches priced, 36 releases in 12 months
More with Arcade
pairs with Arcade- Co-op + Arcade$1,37646 launches priced, 69 releases in 12 months
- Arcade + Twin Stick Shooter$1,01169 launches priced, 100 releases in 12 months
- Arcade + Female Protagonist$96168 launches priced, 82 releases in 12 months
- Arcade + Local Co-Op$96050 launches priced, 58 releases in 12 months
- Arcade + Anime$91052 launches priced, 96 releases in 12 months
- Arcade + Difficult$80679 launches priced, 145 releases in 12 months
Verdicts
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