Tag pairdata 30 Sep 2026
Niches / Survival / Base Building
Survival + Base Building: a typical launch earns $6,755 in its first year
That is the median of 92 indie paid launches, 2024 Q4 to 2025 Q3. 46 of 170 matured launches earned $100k or more, against 24.2 expected for their price and launch quarter. Releases rose 12% on the year before: 113 against 101.
- Price
- $6,755 median of 92 launches
- Price vs a year earlier
- −21.0% four quarters on the four before
- Releases, 12 months
- 113 101 the year before
- Upcoming games
- 665 coming soon on Steam
- Games on the store
- 1,302 carrying both tags
Boards
as of 30 Sep 2026Where this pair stands on each board of the front page. Every value carries its 90% interval and its sample.
| Board | Value | Interval | Sample | Standing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Most anticipatedShare of all upcoming wishlist heat on Steam, with the number of upcoming games beside it. | 3.56%share of upcoming wishlist heat | 2.30% to 4.85% | 152 ranked of 665 upcoming gameswishlist rank 30 Sep 2026 | #50 of 7,193pairs on this board |
| Launch successLaunches earning $100k or more, against the number expected for their price tier and launch quarter. | 1.80xhits against expected | 1.47x to 2.17x | 170 launchesindie paid launches 31 Mar 2024 to 1 Apr 2026 (6 to 30 months old) | #293 of 6,324pairs on this board |
| Fewer new releasesFewer launches relative to players. Historically this did not predict better launches. | +11%player demand against new supply, relative to Steam | −11% to +33% | 99 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025; releases 30 Sep 2025 to 30 Sep 2026 vs prior 12 months | #1,042 of 2,361pairs on this board |
| Rising demandGaining players faster than same-age games. Descriptive, not a launch signal. | −8%review growth against same-age games | −17% to +1% | 99 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025 | #1,213 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 oldMatured indie paid launches that earned an estimated $100k or more, against the number expected for games at the same price tier and launch quarter.
- Launches
- 170
- Hit rate
- 27.1%22.5% to 36.5%
- Expected rate
- 14.2%
- Against expected
- 1.80x1.47x to 2.17x
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
170 launchesEstimated lifetime gross of the same matured launches. Half earned less than the median; one in ten earned more than the top figure.
- Bottom tenth
- $101
- Median
- $9,808
- Top tenth
- $706,574
Estimated from Steam review counts. Lifetime to date, so it differs from the first-year price above.
Supply
raw release countsGames released with both tags, last 12 months against the 12 before.
- Change
- +12%
- Against Steam
- −18%after Steam-wide growth, shrunk by 5 releases
Parent tags
- SurvivalGenre pageRanked on every board, with its best pairs.
- Base BuildingNot a genreA theme, mood, feature or presentation tag: never ranked as a market on its own, only inside pairs.
Comparable games
8 indie titlesThe 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.
- Enshrouded (opens the Steam store)2024 · 93,740 reviews, 85% positiveest. $73M
- Abiotic Factor (opens the Steam store)2024 · 42,311 reviews, 95% positiveest. $29M
- Escape From Duckov (opens the Steam store)2025 · 83,945 reviews, 85% positiveest. $21M
- RuneScape: Dragonwilds (opens the Steam store)2026 · 30,187 reviews, 80% positiveest. $18M
- Soulmask (opens the Steam store)2026 · 18,501 reviews, 76% positiveest. $10M
- The Alters (opens the Steam store)2025 · 15,441 reviews, 90% positiveest. $10M
- The Last Caretaker (opens the Steam store)2025 · 13,344 reviews, 86% positiveest. $9.4M
- Nightingale (opens the Steam store)2024 · 15,338 reviews, 66% positiveest. $9M
More with Survival
pairs with Survival- Survival + Open World Survival Craft$18,44140 launches priced, 51 releases in 12 months
- Survival + Colony Sim$9,88130 launches priced, 35 releases in 12 months
- Survival + Co-op$7,36134 launches priced, 70 releases in 12 months
- Survival + Open World$5,44390 launches priced, 136 releases in 12 months
- Building + Survival$4,85567 launches priced, 100 releases in 12 months
- Survival + Crafting$4,66478 launches priced, 138 releases in 12 months
More with Base Building
pairs with Base Building- Base Building + Colony Sim$22,86553 launches priced, 64 releases in 12 months
- RPG + Base Building$17,28632 launches priced, 49 releases in 12 months
- Base Building + Automation$14,08239 launches priced, 83 releases in 12 months
- RTS + Base Building$13,91454 launches priced, 61 releases in 12 months
- Base Building + Management$12,38472 launches priced, 109 releases in 12 months
- City Builder + Base Building$11,53773 launches priced, 109 releases in 12 months
Verdicts
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