Tag pairdata 30 Sep 2026
Niches / Platformer / Linear
Platformer + Linear: a typical launch earns $303 in its first year
That is the median of 95 indie paid launches, 2024 Q4 to 2025 Q3. 1 of 183 matured launches earned $100k or more, against 5.2 expected for their price and launch quarter. Releases rose 8% on the year before: 126 against 117.
- Price
- $303 median of 95 launches
- Price vs a year earlier
- −24.8% four quarters on the four before
- Releases, 12 months
- 126 117 the year before
- Upcoming games
- 225 coming soon on Steam
- Games on the store
- 871 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.
| 0.03%share of upcoming wishlist heat | 0.01% to 0.08% | 7 ranked of 225 upcoming gameswishlist rank 30 Sep 2026 | #6,670 of 7,193pairs on this board |
| Launch successLaunches earning $100k or more, against the number expected for their price tier and launch quarter. | 0.49xhits against expected | 0.40x to 0.91x | 183 launchesindie paid launches 31 Mar 2024 to 1 Apr 2026 (6 to 30 months old) | #5,612 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
- 183
- Hit rate
- 0.5%0.0% to 3.4%
- Expected rate
- 2.8%
- Against expected
- 0.49x0.40x to 0.91x
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
183 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
- $282
- Top tenth
- $3,901
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
- +8%
Parent tags
- PlatformerGenre pageRanked on every board, with its best pairs.
- LinearNot a genreA theme, mood, feature or presentation tag: never ranked as a market on its own, only inside 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.
- The Knightling (opens the Steam store)2025 · 503 reviews, 86% positiveest. $305k
- FISH (opens the Steam store)2026 · 600 reviews, 94% positiveest. $121k
- Missing Banban (opens the Steam store)2025 · 296 reviews, 92% positiveest. $60k
- Myths are 100% True (opens the Steam store)2025 · 187 reviews, 100% positiveest. $57k
- Garfield - Escape from Monday (opens the Steam store)2026 · 59 reviews, 88% positiveest. $30k
- Go Slimey Go! (opens the Steam store)2025 · 107 reviews, 99% positiveest. $28k
- SomnaBuster (opens the Steam store)2024 · 89 reviews, 97% positiveest. $27k
- Connie and the Essence of Chaos (opens the Steam store)2026 · 57 reviews, 96% positiveest. $23k
More with Platformer
pairs with Platformer- Platformer + Co-op$4,47231 launches priced, 63 releases in 12 months
- Platformer + Story Rich$3,03344 launches priced, 59 releases in 12 months
- Platformer + Metroidvania$2,894105 launches priced, 124 releases in 12 months
- Platformer + Hack and Slash$1,33433 launches priced, 54 releases in 12 months
- Platformer + Female Protagonist$1,11270 launches priced, 94 releases in 12 months
- Platformer + Horror$80736 launches priced, 49 releases in 12 months
More with Linear
pairs with Linear- Walking Simulator + Linear$1,56566 launches priced, 92 releases in 12 months
- Psychological Horror + Linear$1,11182 launches priced, 104 releases in 12 months
- Story Rich + Linear$91095 launches priced, 129 releases in 12 months
- Visual Novel + Linear$84831 launches priced, 69 releases in 12 months
- Horror + Linear$808121 launches priced, 153 releases in 12 months
- Female Protagonist + Linear$79940 launches priced, 57 releases in 12 months
Verdicts
in developmentGMD 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.