Tag pairdata 30 Sep 2026

Simulation + City Builder: a typical launch earns $4,451 in its first year

That is the median of 143 indie paid launches, 2024 Q4 to 2025 Q3. 52 of 270 matured launches earned $100k or more, against 34.8 expected for their price and launch quarter. Releases rose 29% on the year before: 207 against 160.

Price: $4,451
Price vs a year earlier: +74.7%
Releases, 12 months: 207
Upcoming games: 705
Games on the store: 1,742

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.

Simulation + City Builder 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.	1.84%share of upcoming wishlist heat	1.29% to 2.53%	105 ranked of 705 upcoming gameswishlist rank 30 Sep 2026	#121 of 7,193pairs on this board
Launch successLaunches earning $100k or more, against the number expected for their price tier and launch quarter.	1.45xhits against expected	1.19x to 1.76x	270 launchesindie paid launches 31 Mar 2024 to 1 Apr 2026 (6 to 30 months old)	#843 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	−6% to +32%	116 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025; releases 30 Sep 2025 to 30 Sep 2026 vs prior 12 months	#1,104 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	−7% to +13%	116 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025	#617 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: 52
Expected: 34.8

Launches: 270
Hit rate: 19.3%12.8% to 26.5%
Expected rate: 12.9%
Against expected: 1.45x1.19x to 1.76x

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

270 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: $10
Median: $2,881
Top tenth: $378,995

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: 207
Prior 12 months: 160

Change: +29%
Against Steam: −5%after Steam-wide growth, shrunk by 5 releases

Parent tags

SimulationGenre pageRanked on every board, with its best pairs.
City BuilderGenre 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 Simulation

pairs with Simulation

Simulation + Shop Keeper$32,26936 launches priced, 330 releases in 12 months
Simulation + Cozy$15,70676 launches priced, 253 releases in 12 months
Simulation + Online Co-Op$11,02868 launches priced, 133 releases in 12 months
Simulation + Multiplayer$8,980122 launches priced, 253 releases in 12 months
Simulation + Base Building$7,38289 launches priced, 173 releases in 12 months
Simulation + Economy$6,979210 launches priced, 540 releases in 12 months

Every pair with Simulation

More with City Builder

pairs with City Builder

Sandbox + City Builder$11,53977 launches priced, 92 releases in 12 months
City Builder + Base Building$11,53773 launches priced, 109 releases in 12 months
City Builder + Economy$9,56148 launches priced, 64 releases in 12 months
Tower Defense + City Builder$8,80032 launches priced, 43 releases in 12 months
City Builder + Resource Management$8,36456 launches priced, 73 releases in 12 months
City Builder + Management$8,27073 launches priced, 95 releases in 12 months

Every pair with City Builder

Verdicts

in development

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