Tag pairdata 30 Sep 2026

Romance + Interactive Fiction: a typical launch earns $3,130 in its first year

That is the median of 63 indie paid launches, 2024 Q4 to 2025 Q3. 15 of 130 matured launches earned $100k or more, against 11.6 expected for their price and launch quarter. Releases rose 20% on the year before: 96 against 80.

Price: $3,130
Price vs a year earlier: +34.6%
Releases, 12 months: 96
Upcoming games: 208
Games on the store: 608

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.

Romance + Interactive Fiction 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 0.13%	23 ranked of 209 upcoming gameswishlist rank 30 Sep 2026	#1,675 of 7,193pairs on this board
Launch successLaunches earning $100k or more, against the number expected for their price tier and launch quarter.	1.23xhits against expected	0.89x to 1.71x	130 launchesindie paid launches 31 Mar 2024 to 1 Apr 2026 (6 to 30 months old)	#1,617 of 6,324pairs on this board
Fewer new releasesFewer launches relative to players. Historically this did not predict better launches. One game dominates the figure	+11%player demand against new supply, relative to Steam	−16% to +47%	28 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025; releases 30 Sep 2025 to 30 Sep 2026 vs prior 12 months	#1,068 of 2,361pairs on this board
Rising demandGaining players faster than same-age games. Descriptive, not a launch signal. One game dominates the figure Listed after unflagged rows on this board	−3%review growth against same-age games	−17% to +10%	28 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025	#2,167 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 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: 15
Expected: 11.6

Launches: 130
Hit rate: 11.5%6.5% to 19.0%
Expected rate: 8.9%
Against expected: 1.23x0.89x to 1.71x

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

130 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: $202
Median: $3,290
Top tenth: $123,263

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: 96
Prior 12 months: 80

Change: +20%
Against Steam: −12%after Steam-wide growth, shrunk by 5 releases

Parent tags

RomanceNot a genreA theme, mood, feature or presentation tag: never ranked as a market on its own, only inside pairs.
Interactive FictionGenre 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 Romance

pairs with Romance

Romance + LGBTQ+$5,45434 launches priced, 71 releases in 12 months
Cute + Romance$5,22277 launches priced, 90 releases in 12 months
Anime + Romance$4,97896 launches priced, 120 releases in 12 months
Funny + Romance$4,86732 launches priced, 30 releases in 12 months
Adventure + Romance$4,31378 launches priced, 112 releases in 12 months
Romance + Dating Sim$3,94697 launches priced, 156 releases in 12 months

Every pair with Romance

More with Interactive Fiction

pairs with Interactive Fiction

Interactive Fiction + FMV$39,86745 launches priced, 64 releases in 12 months
Cinematic + Interactive Fiction$4,18748 launches priced, 48 releases in 12 months
Interactive Fiction + LGBTQ+$4,04637 launches priced, 62 releases in 12 months
Dating Sim + Interactive Fiction$3,15892 launches priced, 128 releases in 12 months
Story Rich + Interactive Fiction$2,268207 launches priced, 343 releases in 12 months
Mystery + Interactive Fiction$2,22579 launches priced, 113 releases in 12 months

Every pair with Interactive Fiction

Verdicts

in development

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