Tag pairdata 30 Sep 2026

Sports + Arcade: a typical launch earns $606 in its first year

That is the median of 155 indie paid launches, 2024 Q4 to 2025 Q3. 19 of 302 matured launches earned $100k or more, against 22.7 expected for their price and launch quarter. Releases rose 30% on the year before: 252 against 194.

One game dominates the figure

Price: $606
Price vs a year earlier: +15.4%
Releases, 12 months: 252
Upcoming games: 420
Games on the store: 1,650

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.

Sports + Arcade 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.	0.11%share of upcoming wishlist heat	0.07% to 0.16%	29 ranked of 420 upcoming gameswishlist rank 30 Sep 2026	#1,629 of 7,193pairs on this board
Launch successLaunches earning $100k or more, against the number expected for their price tier and launch quarter. One game dominates the figure	0.86xhits against expected	0.63x to 1.17x	302 launchesindie paid launches 31 Mar 2024 to 1 Apr 2026 (6 to 30 months old)	#3,712 of 6,324pairs on this board
Fewer new releasesFewer launches relative to players. Historically this did not predict better launches.	−11%player demand against new supply, relative to Steam	−25% to +9%	57 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025; releases 30 Sep 2025 to 30 Sep 2026 vs prior 12 months	#1,774 of 2,361pairs on this board
Rising demandGaining players faster than same-age games. Descriptive, not a launch signal.	−15%review growth against same-age games	−24% to −8%	57 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025	#1,477 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: 22.7

Launches: 302
Hit rate: 6.3%2.4% to 10.5%
Expected rate: 7.5%
Against expected: 0.86x0.63x to 1.17x

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

302 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: $606
Top tenth: $34,797

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: 252
Prior 12 months: 194

Change: +30%
Against Steam: −5%after Steam-wide growth, shrunk by 5 releases

Parent tags

SportsGenre pageRanked on every board, with its best pairs.
ArcadeGenre 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 Sports

pairs with Sports

Sports + Management$5,80333 launches priced, 98 releases in 12 months
Strategy + Sports$2,42899 launches priced, 158 releases in 12 months
Sports + Driving$1,82042 launches priced, 49 releases in 12 months
Simulation + Sports$1,819193 launches priced, 336 releases in 12 months
Sports + Realistic$1,80150 launches priced, 84 releases in 12 months
Adventure + Sports$1,79496 launches priced, 67 releases in 12 months

Every pair with Sports

More with Arcade

pairs with Arcade

Co-op + Arcade$1,37646 launches priced, 69 releases in 12 months
Arcade + Twin Stick Shooter$1,01169 launches priced, 100 releases in 12 months
Arcade + Female Protagonist$96168 launches priced, 82 releases in 12 months
Arcade + Local Co-Op$96050 launches priced, 58 releases in 12 months
Arcade + Anime$91052 launches priced, 96 releases in 12 months
Arcade + Difficult$80679 launches priced, 145 releases in 12 months

Every pair with Arcade

Verdicts

in development

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