Tag pairdata 30 Sep 2026

Shooter + Sci-fi: a typical launch earns $303 in its first year

That is the median of 124 indie paid launches, 2024 Q4 to 2025 Q3. 19 of 240 matured launches earned $100k or more, against 17.5 expected for their price and launch quarter. Releases rose 10% on the year before: 161 against 147.

Big publishers: over 85% from majors or $40+ games

Price: $303
Price vs a year earlier: −34.3%
Releases, 12 months: 161
Upcoming games: 511
Games on the store: 1,674

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.

Shooter + Sci-fi 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.	0.59%share of upcoming wishlist heat	0.35% to 0.96%	54 ranked of 511 upcoming gameswishlist rank 30 Sep 2026	#397 of 7,193pairs on this board
Launch successLaunches earning $100k or more, against the number expected for their price tier and launch quarter. Big publishers: over 85% from majors or $40+ games	1.07xhits against expected	0.79x to 1.46x	240 launchesindie paid launches 31 Mar 2024 to 1 Apr 2026 (6 to 30 months old)	#2,381 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	+30%player demand against new supply, relative to Steam	+8% to +61%	52 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025; releases 30 Sep 2025 to 30 Sep 2026 vs prior 12 months	#505 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	+5%review growth against same-age games	−7% to +17%	52 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025	#1,734 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: 19
Expected: 17.5

Launches: 240
Hit rate: 7.9%5.6% to 11.0%
Expected rate: 7.3%
Against expected: 1.07x0.79x to 1.46x

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

240 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: $374
Top tenth: $38,621

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: 161
Prior 12 months: 147

Change: +10%
Against Steam: −19%after Steam-wide growth, shrunk by 5 releases

Parent tags

ShooterGenre pageRanked on every board, with its best pairs.
Sci-fiNot 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 Shooter

pairs with Shooter

Shooter + Cyberpunk$2,57936 launches priced, 56 releases in 12 months
Story Rich + Shooter$2,36739 launches priced, 48 releases in 12 months
Shooter + Online Co-Op$2,19432 launches priced, 60 releases in 12 months
Co-op + Shooter$1,82139 launches priced, 53 releases in 12 months
Shooter + Old School$1,55845 launches priced, 53 releases in 12 months
Shooter + Gore$1,46646 launches priced, 49 releases in 12 months

Every pair with Shooter

More with Sci-fi

pairs with Sci-fi

Sci-fi + Anime$4,24936 launches priced, 49 releases in 12 months
Sci-fi + Cyberpunk$3,08346 launches priced, 61 releases in 12 months
Sci-fi + Cute$1,80330 launches priced, 31 releases in 12 months
Story Rich + Sci-fi$1,61786 launches priced, 117 releases in 12 months
RPG + Sci-fi$1,61665 launches priced, 76 releases in 12 months
Exploration + Sci-fi$1,457125 launches priced, 163 releases in 12 months

Every pair with Sci-fi

Verdicts

in development

GMD Verdicts will be a written read on a niche, built from the same data and the published method on this site. Join the early list and we will email you when the first ones are ready. Nothing on this page is held back while you wait.