Tag pairdata 30 Sep 2026

Simulation + Flight: a typical launch earns $304 in its first year

That is the median of 61 indie paid launches, 2024 Q4 to 2025 Q3. 9 of 117 matured launches earned $100k or more, against 10.7 expected for their price and launch quarter. Releases rose 22% on the year before: 84 against 69.

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

Price: $304
Price vs a year earlier: −85.7%
Releases, 12 months: 84
Upcoming games: 215
Games on the store: 828

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 + Flight 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.	0.29%share of upcoming wishlist heat	0.19% to 0.44%	33 ranked of 215 upcoming gameswishlist rank 30 Sep 2026	#791 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	0.88xhits against expected	0.61x to 1.31x	117 launchesindie paid launches 31 Mar 2024 to 1 Apr 2026 (6 to 30 months old)	#3,555 of 6,324pairs on this board
Fewer new releasesFewer launches relative to players. Historically this did not predict better launches.	+35%player demand against new supply, relative to Steam	+1% to +64%	27 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025; releases 30 Sep 2025 to 30 Sep 2026 vs prior 12 months	#387 of 2,361pairs on this board
Rising demandGaining players faster than same-age games. Descriptive, not a launch signal.	+20%review growth against same-age games	+11% to +28%	27 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025	#34 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: 9
Expected: 10.7

Launches: 117
Hit rate: 7.7%3.1% to 11.6%
Expected rate: 9.1%
Against expected: 0.88x0.61x to 1.31x

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

117 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: $443
Top tenth: $40,904

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: 84
Prior 12 months: 69

Change: +22%
Against Steam: −11%after Steam-wide growth, shrunk by 5 releases

Parent tags

SimulationGenre pageRanked on every board, with its best pairs.
FlightGenre 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 Flight

pairs with Flight

Action + Flight$24265 launches priced, 127 releases in 12 months
3D + Flight$20268 launches priced, 105 releases in 12 months
Arcade + Flight$16260 launches priced, 97 releases in 12 months
Casual + Flight$12153 launches priced, 64 releases in 12 months
2D + Flight$12131 launches priced, 33 releases in 12 months
Shooter + Flight$12137 launches priced, 54 releases in 12 months

Every pair with Flight

Verdicts

in development

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