Tag pairdata 30 Sep 2026

Story Rich + Text-Based: a typical launch earns $1,718 in its first year

That is the median of 67 indie paid launches, 2024 Q4 to 2025 Q3. 6 of 147 matured launches earned $100k or more, against 9.2 expected for their price and launch quarter. Releases rose 69% on the year before: 149 against 88.

Price: $1,718
Price vs a year earlier: +212.3%
Releases, 12 months: 149
Upcoming games: 277
Games on the store: 874

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 + Text-Based 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.	0.04%share of upcoming wishlist heat	0.04% to 0.06%	19 ranked of 277 upcoming gameswishlist rank 30 Sep 2026	#2,701 of 7,193pairs on this board
Launch successLaunches earning $100k or more, against the number expected for their price tier and launch quarter.	0.74xhits against expected	0.50x to 1.18x	147 launchesindie paid launches 31 Mar 2024 to 1 Apr 2026 (6 to 30 months old)	#4,490 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	−20%player demand against new supply, relative to Steam	−39% to +4%	36 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025; releases 30 Sep 2025 to 30 Sep 2026 vs prior 12 months	#1,996 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	−1%review growth against same-age games	−14% to +12%	36 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025	#2,053 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: 6
Expected: 9.2

Launches: 147
Hit rate: 4.1%1.3% to 9.1%
Expected rate: 6.2%
Against expected: 0.74x0.50x to 1.18x

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

147 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: $75
Median: $1,456
Top tenth: $35,791

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: 149
Prior 12 months: 88

Change: +69%
Against Steam: +24%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.
Text-BasedNot 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 Text-Based

pairs with Text-Based

Horror + Text-Based$2,83130 launches priced, 65 releases in 12 months
Anime + Text-Based$2,10148 launches priced, 70 releases in 12 months
Cute + Text-Based$1,36644 launches priced, 69 releases in 12 months
Choices Matter + Text-Based$1,20374 launches priced, 137 releases in 12 months
Interactive Fiction + Text-Based$1,13396 launches priced, 190 releases in 12 months
Fantasy + Text-Based$1,06230 launches priced, 44 releases in 12 months

Every pair with Text-Based

Verdicts

in development

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