Tag pairdata 30 Sep 2026

RTS + Base Building: a typical launch earns $13,914 in its first year

That is the median of 54 indie paid launches, 2024 Q4 to 2025 Q3. 21 of 84 matured launches earned $100k or more, against 12.3 expected for their price and launch quarter. Releases rose 2% on the year before: 61 against 60.

Price: $13,914
Price vs a year earlier: +486.7%
Releases, 12 months: 61
Upcoming games: 276
Games on the store: 637

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.

RTS + Base Building 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.	0.64%share of upcoming wishlist heat	0.43% to 0.93%	45 ranked of 277 upcoming gameswishlist rank 30 Sep 2026	#373 of 7,193pairs on this board
Launch successLaunches earning $100k or more, against the number expected for their price tier and launch quarter.	1.57xhits against expected	1.19x to 2.03x	84 launchesindie paid launches 31 Mar 2024 to 1 Apr 2026 (6 to 30 months old)	#604 of 6,324pairs on this board
Fewer new releasesFewer launches relative to players. Historically this did not predict better launches.	+36%player demand against new supply, relative to Steam	+3% to +85%	29 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025; releases 30 Sep 2025 to 30 Sep 2026 vs prior 12 months	#362 of 2,361pairs on this board
Rising demandGaining players faster than same-age games. Descriptive, not a launch signal.	+4%review growth against same-age games	−9% to +13%	29 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025	#648 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: 21
Expected: 12.3

Launches: 84
Hit rate: 25.0%18.5% to 37.0%
Expected rate: 14.7%
Against expected: 1.57x1.19x to 2.03x

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

84 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: $226
Median: $11,188
Top tenth: $455,962

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: 61
Prior 12 months: 60

Change: +2%
Against Steam: −24%after Steam-wide growth, shrunk by 5 releases

Parent tags

RTSGenre pageRanked on every board, with its best pairs.
Base BuildingNot 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 RTS

pairs with RTS

RTS + War$4,48634 launches priced, 38 releases in 12 months
RTS + Wargame$3,54550 launches priced, 91 releases in 12 months
RTS + Roguelite$3,51736 launches priced, 49 releases in 12 months
Building + RTS$3,03535 launches priced, 34 releases in 12 months
RTS + Roguelike$3,03133 launches priced, 40 releases in 12 months
RTS + Grand Strategy$2,63033 launches priced, 35 releases in 12 months

Every pair with RTS

More with Base Building

pairs with Base Building

Base Building + Colony Sim$22,86553 launches priced, 64 releases in 12 months
RPG + Base Building$17,28632 launches priced, 49 releases in 12 months
Base Building + Automation$14,08239 launches priced, 83 releases in 12 months
Base Building + Management$12,38472 launches priced, 109 releases in 12 months
City Builder + Base Building$11,53773 launches priced, 109 releases in 12 months
Crafting + Base Building$8,90179 launches priced, 125 releases in 12 months

Every pair with Base Building

Verdicts

in development

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