Tag pairdata 30 Sep 2026

Strategy + Sci-fi: a typical launch earns $647 in its first year

That is the median of 113 indie paid launches, 2024 Q4 to 2025 Q3. 22 of 235 matured launches earned $100k or more, against 19.0 expected for their price and launch quarter. Releases rose 38% on the year before: 184 against 133.

Price: $647
Price vs a year earlier: −20.0%
Releases, 12 months: 184
Upcoming games: 659
Games on the store: 1,810

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.

Strategy + Sci-fi 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. One game dominates the figure Listed after unflagged rows on this board	1.75%share of upcoming wishlist heat	0.65% to 2.79%	51 ranked of 659 upcoming gameswishlist rank 30 Sep 2026	#4,079 of 7,193pairs on this board
Launch successLaunches earning $100k or more, against the number expected for their price tier and launch quarter.	1.13xhits against expected	0.85x to 1.52x	235 launchesindie paid launches 31 Mar 2024 to 1 Apr 2026 (6 to 30 months old)	#2,034 of 6,324pairs on this board
Fewer new releasesFewer launches relative to players. Historically this did not predict better launches.	+10%player demand against new supply, relative to Steam	−7% to +38%	55 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025; releases 30 Sep 2025 to 30 Sep 2026 vs prior 12 months	#1,106 of 2,361pairs on this board
Rising demandGaining players faster than same-age games. Descriptive, not a launch signal.	+11%review growth against same-age games	+2% to +23%	55 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025	#247 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: 22
Expected: 19.0

Launches: 235
Hit rate: 9.4%4.6% to 13.0%
Expected rate: 8.1%
Against expected: 1.13x0.85x to 1.52x

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

235 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: $728
Top tenth: $81,168

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: 184
Prior 12 months: 133

Change: +38%
Against Steam: +1%after Steam-wide growth, shrunk by 5 releases

Parent tags

StrategyGenre pageRanked on every board, with its best pairs.
Sci-fiNot 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 Strategy

pairs with Strategy

Strategy + Roguelike Deckbuilder$8,599104 launches priced, 217 releases in 12 months
Strategy + Base Building$6,139160 launches priced, 260 releases in 12 months
Strategy + Turn-Based$5,85566 launches priced, 104 releases in 12 months
Strategy + Historical$4,25980 launches priced, 157 releases in 12 months
Strategy + Party-Based RPG$3,88255 launches priced, 102 releases in 12 months
Strategy + Story Rich$3,64284 launches priced, 149 releases in 12 months

Every pair with Strategy

More with Sci-fi

pairs with Sci-fi

Sci-fi + Anime$4,24936 launches priced, 49 releases in 12 months
Sci-fi + Cyberpunk$3,08346 launches priced, 61 releases in 12 months
Sci-fi + Cute$1,80330 launches priced, 31 releases in 12 months
Story Rich + Sci-fi$1,61786 launches priced, 117 releases in 12 months
RPG + Sci-fi$1,61665 launches priced, 76 releases in 12 months
Exploration + Sci-fi$1,457125 launches priced, 163 releases in 12 months

Every pair with Sci-fi

Verdicts

in development

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