Tag pairdata 30 Sep 2026

Roguelike + Difficult: a typical launch earns $3,641 in its first year

That is the median of 73 indie paid launches, 2024 Q4 to 2025 Q3. 17 of 140 matured launches earned $100k or more, against 15.2 expected for their price and launch quarter. Releases rose 15% on the year before: 93 against 81.

Price: $3,641
Price vs a year earlier: +9.2%
Releases, 12 months: 93
Upcoming games: 233
Games on the store: 723

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.

Roguelike + Difficult 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.	0.11%share of upcoming wishlist heat	0.08% to 0.16%	28 ranked of 233 upcoming gameswishlist rank 30 Sep 2026	#1,597 of 7,193pairs on this board
Launch successLaunches earning $100k or more, against the number expected for their price tier and launch quarter.	1.10xhits against expected	0.80x to 1.50x	140 launchesindie paid launches 31 Mar 2024 to 1 Apr 2026 (6 to 30 months old)	#2,224 of 6,324pairs on this board
Fewer new releasesFewer launches relative to players. Historically this did not predict better launches.	+10%player demand against new supply, relative to Steam	−18% to +42%	39 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025; releases 30 Sep 2025 to 30 Sep 2026 vs prior 12 months	#1,114 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	−18% to +6%	39 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025	#1,163 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: 17
Expected: 15.2

Launches: 140
Hit rate: 12.1%8.2% to 22.0%
Expected rate: 10.9%
Against expected: 1.10x0.80x to 1.50x

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

140 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: $297
Median: $3,643
Top tenth: $201,434

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: 93
Prior 12 months: 81

Change: +15%
Against Steam: −16%after Steam-wide growth, shrunk by 5 releases

Parent tags

RoguelikeGenre pageRanked on every board, with its best pairs.
DifficultNot a genreA theme, mood, feature or presentation tag: never ranked as a market on its own, only inside 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 Roguelike

pairs with Roguelike

Roguelike + Bullet Heaven$17,70935 launches priced, 135 releases in 12 months
Roguelike + Roguelike Deckbuilder$8,25299 launches priced, 221 releases in 12 months
Turn-Based + Roguelike$4,45040 launches priced, 64 releases in 12 months
Roguelike + Anime$4,38831 launches priced, 48 releases in 12 months
Roguelike + Auto Battler$3,39375 launches priced, 156 releases in 12 months
Horror + Roguelike$3,33937 launches priced, 73 releases in 12 months

Every pair with Roguelike

More with Difficult

pairs with Difficult

RPG + Difficult$8,09240 launches priced, 39 releases in 12 months
Roguelite + Difficult$3,03570 launches priced, 97 releases in 12 months
Difficult + Action Roguelike$2,42672 launches priced, 73 releases in 12 months
Difficult + Souls-like$2,12341 launches priced, 39 releases in 12 months
Difficult + Bullet Hell$2,12150 launches priced, 58 releases in 12 months
Exploration + Difficult$2,11955 launches priced, 63 releases in 12 months

Every pair with Difficult

Verdicts

in development

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