Tag pairdata 30 Sep 2026

Story Rich + Historical: a typical launch earns $9,685 in its first year

That is the median of 33 indie paid launches, 2024 Q4 to 2025 Q3. 16 of 78 matured launches earned $100k or more, against 11.4 expected for their price and launch quarter. Releases rose 26% on the year before: 53 against 42.

Big publishers: over 85% from majors or $40+ games
China market: over 35% of reviews are Chinese

Price: $9,685
Price vs a year earlier: −2.5%
Releases, 12 months: 53
Upcoming games: 172
Games on the store: 460

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.

Story Rich + Historical 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.	0.13%share of upcoming wishlist heat	0.09% to 0.19%	24 ranked of 172 upcoming gameswishlist rank 30 Sep 2026	#1,445 of 7,193pairs on this board
Launch successLaunches earning $100k or more, against the number expected for their price tier and launch quarter. China market: over 35% of reviews are Chinese Big publishers: over 85% from majors or $40+ games Listed after unflagged rows on this board	1.32xhits against expected	0.97x to 1.78x	78 launchesindie paid launches 31 Mar 2024 to 1 Apr 2026 (6 to 30 months old)	#5,914 of 6,324pairs on this board
Fewer new releasesFewer launches relative to players. Historically this did not predict better launches.	+9%player demand against new supply, relative to Steam	−19% to +52%	32 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025; releases 30 Sep 2025 to 30 Sep 2026 vs prior 12 months	#1,150 of 2,361pairs on this board
Rising demandGaining players faster than same-age games. Descriptive, not a launch signal.	−1%review growth against same-age games	−10% to +11%	32 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025	#856 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: 16
Expected: 11.4

Launches: 78
Hit rate: 20.5%13.7% to 31.2%
Expected rate: 14.6%
Against expected: 1.32x0.97x to 1.78x

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

78 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: $67
Median: $4,129
Top tenth: $284,722

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: 53
Prior 12 months: 42

Change: +26%
Against Steam: −9%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.
HistoricalNot a genreA theme, mood, feature or presentation tag: never ranked as a market on its own, only inside 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 Story Rich

pairs with Story Rich

Story Rich + Narrative$13,10440 launches priced, 59 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
Story Rich + Hand-drawn$5,46489 launches priced, 127 releases in 12 months

Every pair with Story Rich

More with Historical

pairs with Historical

Simulation + Historical$5,28050 launches priced, 124 releases in 12 months
Historical + Wargame$4,50234 launches priced, 56 releases in 12 months
War + Historical$4,39930 launches priced, 43 releases in 12 months
Strategy + Historical$4,25980 launches priced, 157 releases in 12 months
RPG + Historical$4,25039 launches priced, 57 releases in 12 months
Turn-Based Strategy + Historical$4,04836 launches priced, 59 releases in 12 months

Every pair with Historical

Verdicts

in development

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