Tag pairdata 30 Sep 2026
Relaxing + Colorful: a typical launch earns $626 in its first year
That is the median of 242 indie paid launches, 2024 Q4 to 2025 Q3. 30 of 516 matured launches earned $100k or more, against 20.1 expected for their price and launch quarter. Releases rose 52% on the year before: 431 against 283.
- Price
- $626 median of 242 launches
- Price vs a year earlier
- −11.5% four quarters on the four before
- Releases, 12 months
- 431 283 the year before
- Upcoming games
- 595 coming soon on Steam
- Games on the store
- 2,276 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. | 0.30%share of upcoming wishlist heat | 0.20% to 0.40% | 43 ranked of 595 upcoming gameswishlist rank 30 Sep 2026 | #767 of 7,193pairs on this board |
| Launch successLaunches earning $100k or more, against the number expected for their price tier and launch quarter. | 1.43xhits against expected | 1.10x to 1.86x | 516 launchesindie paid launches 31 Mar 2024 to 1 Apr 2026 (6 to 30 months old) | #900 of 6,324pairs on this board |
| Fewer new releasesFewer launches relative to players. Historically this did not predict better launches. | −17%player demand against new supply, relative to Steam | −29% to −5% | 97 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025; releases 30 Sep 2025 to 30 Sep 2026 vs prior 12 months | #1,929 of 2,361pairs on this board |
| Rising demandGaining players faster than same-age games. Descriptive, not a launch signal. | −8%review growth against same-age games | −14% to −2% | 97 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025 | #1,167 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 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
- 516
- Hit rate
- 5.8%3.1% to 9.5%
- Expected rate
- 3.9%
- Against expected
- 1.43x1.10x to 1.86x
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
516 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
- $606
- Top tenth
- $32,529
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
- +52%
- Against Steam
- +12%after Steam-wide growth, shrunk by 5 releases
Parent tags
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.
- Hello Kitty Island Adventure (opens the Steam store)2025 · 9,691 reviews, 93% positiveest. $7.7M
- Is This Seat Taken? (opens the Steam store)2025 · 9,190 reviews, 97% positiveest. $1.8M
- Dressmaker (opens the Steam store)2026 · 5,974 reviews, 97% positiveest. $1.7M
- Loddlenaut (opens the Steam store)2023 · 3,871 reviews, 98% positiveest. $1.6M
- Shelldiver (opens the Steam store)2025 · 16,989 reviews, 98% positiveest. $1.4M
- Hozy (opens the Steam store)2026 · 4,256 reviews, 80% positiveest. $1.2M
- Star Birds (opens the Steam store)2025 · 3,005 reviews, 91% positiveest. $1.2M
- SteamWorld Build (opens the Steam store)2023 · 1,895 reviews, 83% positiveest. $959k
More with Relaxing
pairs with Relaxing- Relaxing + Economy$7,82849 launches priced, 115 releases in 12 months
- Relaxing + Open World$3,43945 launches priced, 56 releases in 12 months
- Building + Relaxing$3,39787 launches priced, 134 releases in 12 months
- Relaxing + Management$3,154101 launches priced, 233 releases in 12 months
- Relaxing + Farming Sim$2,87450 launches priced, 106 releases in 12 months
- Relaxing + Crafting$2,42950 launches priced, 83 releases in 12 months
More with Colorful
pairs with Colorful- Colorful + Cozy$3,63859 launches priced, 123 releases in 12 months
- Story Rich + Colorful$3,39962 launches priced, 88 releases in 12 months
- Visual Novel + Colorful$2,68975 launches priced, 112 releases in 12 months
- Colorful + Emotional$2,00335 launches priced, 44 releases in 12 months
- Colorful + Life Sim$1,85851 launches priced, 69 releases in 12 months
- Magic + Colorful$1,66832 launches priced, 38 releases in 12 months
Verdicts
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