Tag pairdata 30 Sep 2026

RPG + Text-Based: a typical launch earns $1,011 in its first year

That is the median of 79 indie paid launches, 2024 Q4 to 2025 Q3. 3 of 167 matured launches earned $100k or more, against 7.9 expected for their price and launch quarter. Releases rose 63% on the year before: 163 against 100.

Price: $1,011
Price vs a year earlier: +4.2%
Releases, 12 months: 163
Upcoming games: 294
Games on the store: 1,055

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.

RPG + Text-Based 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.	0.03%share of upcoming wishlist heat	0.02% to 0.04%	11 ranked of 294 upcoming gameswishlist rank 30 Sep 2026	#3,187 of 7,193pairs on this board
Launch successLaunches earning $100k or more, against the number expected for their price tier and launch quarter.	0.55xhits against expected	0.38x to 0.95x	167 launchesindie paid launches 31 Mar 2024 to 1 Apr 2026 (6 to 30 months old)	#5,445 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 China market: over 35% of reviews are Chinese	−11%player demand against new supply, relative to Steam	−28% to +11%	25 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025; releases 30 Sep 2025 to 30 Sep 2026 vs prior 12 months	#1,777 of 2,361pairs on this board
Rising demandGaining players faster than same-age games. Descriptive, not a launch signal. One game dominates the figure China market: over 35% of reviews are Chinese Listed after unflagged rows on this board	+5%review growth against same-age games	−4% to +15%	25 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025	#1,720 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: 3
Expected: 7.9

Launches: 167
Hit rate: 1.8%0.7% to 6.2%
Expected rate: 4.8%
Against expected: 0.55x0.38x to 0.95x

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

167 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: $0
Median: $909
Top tenth: $16,969

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: 163
Prior 12 months: 100

Change: +63%
Against Steam: +18%after Steam-wide growth, shrunk by 5 releases

Parent tags

RPGGenre pageRanked on every board, with its best pairs.
Text-BasedNot 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 RPG

pairs with RPG

RPG + FMV$25,57938 launches priced, 46 releases in 12 months
RPG + Base Building$17,28632 launches priced, 49 releases in 12 months
RPG + Farming Sim$8,78948 launches priced, 44 releases in 12 months
RPG + Difficult$8,09240 launches priced, 39 releases in 12 months
RPG + Resource Management$8,05030 launches priced, 62 releases in 12 months
RPG + Dating Sim$6,63993 launches priced, 145 releases in 12 months

Every pair with RPG

More with Text-Based

pairs with Text-Based

Horror + Text-Based$2,83130 launches priced, 65 releases in 12 months
Anime + Text-Based$2,10148 launches priced, 70 releases in 12 months
Story Rich + Text-Based$1,71867 launches priced, 149 releases in 12 months
Cute + Text-Based$1,36644 launches priced, 69 releases in 12 months
Choices Matter + Text-Based$1,20374 launches priced, 137 releases in 12 months
Interactive Fiction + Text-Based$1,13396 launches priced, 190 releases in 12 months

Every pair with Text-Based

Verdicts

in development

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