Tag pairdata 30 Sep 2026

Surreal + Story Rich: a typical launch earns $3,238 in its first year

That is the median of 65 indie paid launches, 2024 Q4 to 2025 Q3. 11 of 128 matured launches earned $100k or more, against 6.9 expected for their price and launch quarter. Releases rose 18% on the year before: 92 against 78.

Price: $3,238
Price vs a year earlier: +60.2%
Releases, 12 months: 92
Upcoming games: 302
Games on the store: 713

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.

Surreal + Story Rich 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.	0.18%share of upcoming wishlist heat	0.15% to 0.21%	48 ranked of 302 upcoming gameswishlist rank 30 Sep 2026	#1,133 of 7,193pairs on this board
Launch successLaunches earning $100k or more, against the number expected for their price tier and launch quarter.	1.42xhits against expected	0.99x to 2.06x	128 launchesindie paid launches 31 Mar 2024 to 1 Apr 2026 (6 to 30 months old)	#946 of 6,324pairs on this board
Fewer new releasesFewer launches relative to players. Historically this did not predict better launches.	+34%player demand against new supply, relative to Steam	+6% to +70%	45 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025; releases 30 Sep 2025 to 30 Sep 2026 vs prior 12 months	#424 of 2,361pairs on this board
Rising demandGaining players faster than same-age games. Descriptive, not a launch signal.	+15%review growth against same-age games	+3% to +28%	45 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025	#107 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: 11
Expected: 6.9

Launches: 128
Hit rate: 8.6%5.2% to 20.2%
Expected rate: 5.4%
Against expected: 1.42x0.99x to 2.06x

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

128 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: $170
Median: $2,816
Top tenth: $91,270

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: 92
Prior 12 months: 78

Change: +18%
Against Steam: −14%after Steam-wide growth, shrunk by 5 releases

Parent tags

SurrealNot a genreA theme, mood, feature or presentation tag: never ranked as a market on its own, only inside pairs.
Story RichNot 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 Surreal

pairs with Surreal

Surreal + Mystery$4,52440 launches priced, 57 releases in 12 months
Surreal + Psychological Horror$2,906127 launches priced, 153 releases in 12 months
Surreal + Exploration$2,424100 launches priced, 135 releases in 12 months
Surreal + Walking Simulator$1,81971 launches priced, 118 releases in 12 months
Horror + Surreal$1,799122 launches priced, 163 releases in 12 months
Surreal + Psychological$1,78330 launches priced, 41 releases in 12 months

Every pair with Surreal

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

Verdicts

in development

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