Tag pairdata 30 Sep 2026

Simulation + Colony Sim: a typical launch earns $5,092 in its first year

That is the median of 63 indie paid launches, 2024 Q4 to 2025 Q3. 29 of 133 matured launches earned $100k or more, against 19.5 expected for their price and launch quarter. Releases rose 76% on the year before: 118 against 67.

Price: $5,092
Price vs a year earlier: −39.0%
Releases, 12 months: 118
Upcoming games: 538
Games on the store: 1,045

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 + Colony Sim 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.	0.87%share of upcoming wishlist heat	0.54% to 1.32%	69 ranked of 538 upcoming gameswishlist rank 30 Sep 2026	#263 of 7,193pairs on this board
Launch successLaunches earning $100k or more, against the number expected for their price tier and launch quarter.	1.42xhits against expected	1.11x to 1.80x	133 launchesindie paid launches 31 Mar 2024 to 1 Apr 2026 (6 to 30 months old)	#925 of 6,324pairs on this board
Fewer new releasesFewer launches relative to players. Historically this did not predict better launches.	−15%player demand against new supply, relative to Steam	−34% to +4%	70 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025; releases 30 Sep 2025 to 30 Sep 2026 vs prior 12 months	#1,875 of 2,361pairs on this board
Rising demandGaining players faster than same-age games. Descriptive, not a launch signal.	+7%review growth against same-age games	−2% to +21%	70 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025	#450 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: 29
Expected: 19.5

Launches: 133
Hit rate: 21.8%14.2% to 31.8%
Expected rate: 14.7%
Against expected: 1.42x1.11x to 1.80x

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

133 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: $4
Median: $5,092
Top tenth: $448,499

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: 118
Prior 12 months: 67

Change: +76%
Against Steam: +26%after Steam-wide growth, shrunk by 5 releases

Parent tags

SimulationGenre pageRanked on every board, with its best pairs.
Colony SimGenre 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 Colony Sim

pairs with Colony Sim

Base Building + Colony Sim$22,86553 launches priced, 64 releases in 12 months
Management + Colony Sim$15,78739 launches priced, 61 releases in 12 months
Building + Colony Sim$11,53947 launches priced, 44 releases in 12 months
Sandbox + Colony Sim$10,01834 launches priced, 53 releases in 12 months
Survival + Colony Sim$9,88130 launches priced, 35 releases in 12 months
City Builder + Colony Sim$5,26265 launches priced, 78 releases in 12 months

Every pair with Colony Sim

Verdicts

in development

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