Tag pairdata 30 Sep 2026

Simulation + Survival: a typical launch earns $2,834 in its first year

That is the median of 96 indie paid launches, 2024 Q4 to 2025 Q3. 31 of 202 matured launches earned $100k or more, against 20.1 expected for their price and launch quarter. Releases rose 57% on the year before: 168 against 107.

Price: $2,834
Price vs a year earlier: −41.6%
Releases, 12 months: 168
Upcoming games: 650
Games on the store: 1,617

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 + Survival 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.	1.67%share of upcoming wishlist heat	1.09% to 2.32%	111 ranked of 650 upcoming gameswishlist rank 30 Sep 2026	#142 of 7,193pairs on this board
Launch successLaunches earning $100k or more, against the number expected for their price tier and launch quarter.	1.47xhits against expected	1.15x to 1.88x	202 launchesindie paid launches 31 Mar 2024 to 1 Apr 2026 (6 to 30 months old)	#797 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	−10%player demand against new supply, relative to Steam	−27% to +13%	73 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025; releases 30 Sep 2025 to 30 Sep 2026 vs prior 12 months	#1,753 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	+2%review growth against same-age games	−7% to +15%	73 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025	#1,849 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: 31
Expected: 20.1

Launches: 202
Hit rate: 15.3%10.2% to 24.8%
Expected rate: 9.9%
Against expected: 1.47x1.15x to 1.88x

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

202 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: $40
Median: $3,185
Top tenth: $238,558

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: 168
Prior 12 months: 107

Change: +57%
Against Steam: +14%after Steam-wide growth, shrunk by 5 releases

Parent tags

SimulationGenre pageRanked on every board, with its best pairs.
SurvivalGenre 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 Survival

pairs with Survival

Survival + Open World Survival Craft$18,44140 launches priced, 51 releases in 12 months
Survival + Colony Sim$9,88130 launches priced, 35 releases in 12 months
Survival + Co-op$7,36134 launches priced, 70 releases in 12 months
Survival + Base Building$6,75592 launches priced, 113 releases in 12 months
Survival + Open World$5,44390 launches priced, 136 releases in 12 months
Building + Survival$4,85567 launches priced, 100 releases in 12 months

Every pair with Survival

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.