Tag pairdata 30 Sep 2026
Niches / Story Rich / Emotional
Story Rich + Emotional: a typical launch earns $3,130 in its first year
That is the median of 121 indie paid launches, 2024 Q4 to 2025 Q3. 30 of 248 matured launches earned $100k or more, against 23.8 expected for their price and launch quarter. Releases rose 35% on the year before: 200 against 148.
- Price
- $3,130 median of 121 launches
- Price vs a year earlier
- −61.8% four quarters on the four before
- Releases, 12 months
- 200 148 the year before
- Upcoming games
- 607 coming soon on Steam
- Games on the store
- 1,415 carrying both tags
Boards
as of 30 Sep 2026Where this pair stands on each board of the front page. Every value carries its 90% interval and its sample.
| Board | Value | Interval | Sample | Standing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Most anticipatedShare of all upcoming wishlist heat on Steam, with the number of upcoming games beside it. | 0.73%share of upcoming wishlist heat | 0.54% to 0.90% | 84 ranked of 607 upcoming gameswishlist rank 30 Sep 2026 | #329 of 7,193pairs on this board |
| Launch successLaunches earning $100k or more, against the number expected for their price tier and launch quarter. | 1.23xhits against expected | 0.95x to 1.58x | 248 launchesindie paid launches 31 Mar 2024 to 1 Apr 2026 (6 to 30 months old) | #1,625 of 6,324pairs on this board |
| Fewer new releasesFewer launches relative to players. Historically this did not predict better launches. | +7%player demand against new supply, relative to Steam | −10% to +36% | 110 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025; releases 30 Sep 2025 to 30 Sep 2026 vs prior 12 months | #1,207 of 2,361pairs on this board |
| Rising demandGaining players faster than same-age games. Descriptive, not a launch signal. | +6%review growth against same-age games | −4% to +15% | 110 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025 | #526 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 oldMatured indie paid launches that earned an estimated $100k or more, against the number expected for games at the same price tier and launch quarter.
- Launches
- 248
- Hit rate
- 12.1%6.1% to 21.6%
- Expected rate
- 9.6%
- Against expected
- 1.23x0.95x to 1.58x
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
248 launchesEstimated lifetime gross of the same matured launches. Half earned less than the median; one in ten earned more than the top figure.
- Bottom tenth
- $100
- Median
- $2,872
- Top tenth
- $110,244
Estimated from Steam review counts. Lifetime to date, so it differs from the first-year price above.
Supply
raw release countsGames released with both tags, last 12 months against the 12 before.
- Change
- +35%
- Against Steam
- −1%after Steam-wide growth, shrunk by 5 releases
Parent tags
- Story RichNot a genreA theme, mood, feature or presentation tag: never ranked as a market on its own, only inside pairs.
- EmotionalNot a genreA theme, mood, feature or presentation tag: never ranked as a market on its own, only inside pairs.
Comparable games
8 indie titlesThe 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.
DELTARUNE (opens the Steam store)2025 · 126,392 reviews, 98% positiveest. $63M
Until Then (opens the Steam store)2024 · 15,814 reviews, 96% positiveest. $6.2M
WITCH ON THE HOLY NIGHT (opens the Steam store)2023 · 7,312 reviews, 98% positiveest. $4.1M
In Stars And Time (opens the Steam store)2023 · 7,879 reviews, 96% positiveest. $3.2M
Song of Nunu: A League of Legends Story (opens the Steam store)2023 · 2,745 reviews, 93% positiveest. $1.6M
Copycat (opens the Steam store)2024 · 4,641 reviews, 89% positiveest. $1.4M
Escape from Ever After (opens the Steam store)2026 · 1,545 reviews, 96% positiveest. $782k
GINKA (opens the Steam store)2023 · 2,685 reviews, 91% positiveest. $758k
More with Story Rich
pairs with Story Rich- Story Rich + Narrative$13,10440 launches priced, 59 releases in 12 months
- Story Rich + Historical$9,68533 launches priced, 53 releases in 12 months
- Story Rich + Investigation$8,90370 launches priced, 96 releases in 12 months
- Turn-Based Strategy + Story Rich$8,09741 launches priced, 43 releases in 12 months
- Story Rich + Supernatural$5,82533 launches priced, 45 releases in 12 months
- Story Rich + Dating Sim$5,71476 launches priced, 97 releases in 12 months
More with Emotional
pairs with Emotional- Emotional + Hand-drawn$3,75736 launches priced, 43 releases in 12 months
- Emotional + Multiple Endings$3,03442 launches priced, 72 releases in 12 months
- Anime + Emotional$2,67157 launches priced, 94 releases in 12 months
- Cute + Emotional$2,67167 launches priced, 92 releases in 12 months
- Adventure + Emotional$2,488136 launches priced, 194 releases in 12 months
- Romance + Emotional$2,42738 launches priced, 66 releases in 12 months
Verdicts
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