Tag pairdata 30 Sep 2026

Story Rich + Retro: a typical launch earns $3,285 in its first year

That is the median of 51 indie paid launches, 2024 Q4 to 2025 Q3. 12 of 98 matured launches earned $100k or more, against 6.5 expected for their price and launch quarter. Releases rose 38% on the year before: 77 against 56.

Price: $3,285
Price vs a year earlier: +7.3%
Releases, 12 months: 77
Upcoming games: 220
Games on the store: 598

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 + Retro 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.	0.35%share of upcoming wishlist heat	0.21% to 0.56%	36 ranked of 220 upcoming gameswishlist rank 30 Sep 2026	#652 of 7,193pairs on this board
Launch successLaunches earning $100k or more, against the number expected for their price tier and launch quarter.	1.58xhits against expected	1.12x to 2.25x	98 launchesindie paid launches 31 Mar 2024 to 1 Apr 2026 (6 to 30 months old)	#583 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	−23% to +41%	26 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025; releases 30 Sep 2025 to 30 Sep 2026 vs prior 12 months	#1,222 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	−2% to +14%	26 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025	#542 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: 12
Expected: 6.5

Launches: 98
Hit rate: 12.2%8.0% to 19.5%
Expected rate: 6.6%
Against expected: 1.58x1.12x to 2.25x

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

98 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: $180
Median: $2,872
Top tenth: $114,422

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: 77
Prior 12 months: 56

Change: +38%
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.
RetroNot 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 + 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

Every pair with Story Rich

More with Retro

pairs with Retro

Psychological Horror + Retro$1,59566 launches priced, 104 releases in 12 months
Horror + Retro$1,574105 launches priced, 151 releases in 12 months
Simulation + Retro$1,45461 launches priced, 124 releases in 12 months
Retro + 1990's$1,41683 launches priced, 147 releases in 12 months
Retro + Mystery$1,40436 launches priced, 59 releases in 12 months
Retro + Dark$1,37140 launches priced, 34 releases in 12 months

Every pair with Retro

Verdicts

in development

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