Tag pairdata 30 Sep 2026
Niches / Survival / Open World Survival Craft
Survival + Open World Survival Craft: a typical launch earns $18,441 in its first year
That is the median of 40 indie paid launches, 2024 Q4 to 2025 Q3. 25 of 79 matured launches earned $100k or more, against 12.3 expected for their price and launch quarter. Releases rose 13% on the year before: 51 against 45.
- Price
- $18,441 median of 40 launches
- Price vs a year earlier
- −56.6% four quarters on the four before
- Releases, 12 months
- 51 45 the year before
- Upcoming games
- 280 coming soon on Steam
- Games on the store
- 691 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. | 2.69%share of upcoming wishlist heat | 1.50% to 4.14% | 98 ranked of 280 upcoming gameswishlist rank 30 Sep 2026 | #77 of 7,193pairs on this board |
| Launch successLaunches earning $100k or more, against the number expected for their price tier and launch quarter. | 1.83xhits against expected | 1.42x to 2.30x | 79 launchesindie paid launches 31 Mar 2024 to 1 Apr 2026 (6 to 30 months old) | #272 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 | −19% to +54% | 65 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025; releases 30 Sep 2025 to 30 Sep 2026 vs prior 12 months | #1,057 of 2,361pairs on this board |
| Rising demandGaining players faster than same-age games. Descriptive, not a launch signal. | −10%review growth against same-age games | −20% to +6% | 65 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025 | #1,296 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
- 79
- Hit rate
- 31.6%20.2% to 40.6%
- Expected rate
- 15.6%
- Against expected
- 1.83x1.42x to 2.30x
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
79 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
- $756
- Median
- $21,248
- Top tenth
- $758,967
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
- +13%
- Against Steam
- −19%after Steam-wide growth, shrunk by 5 releases
Parent tags
- SurvivalGenre pageRanked on every board, with its best pairs.
- Open World Survival CraftGenre pageRanked on every board, with its best 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.
- Palworld (opens the Steam store)2024 · 413,726 reviews, 94% positiveest. $223M
- Abiotic Factor (opens the Steam store)2024 · 42,311 reviews, 95% positiveest. $29M
- Windrose (opens the Steam store)2026 · 48,129 reviews, 86% positiveest. $29M
- RuneScape: Dragonwilds (opens the Steam store)2026 · 30,187 reviews, 80% positiveest. $18M
- Nightingale (opens the Steam store)2024 · 15,338 reviews, 66% positiveest. $9M
- The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria™ (opens the Steam store)2024 · 10,277 reviews, 80% positiveest. $6.2M
- ASKA (opens the Steam store)2024 · 10,509 reviews, 79% positiveest. $5.2M
- MISERY (opens the Steam store)2025 · 20,143 reviews, 85% positiveest. $5.2M
More with Survival
pairs with Survival- 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 + Base Building$6,75592 launches priced, 113 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
Related niches
pairs with Open World Survival Craft- Crafting + Open World Survival Craft$26,87533 launches priced, 44 releases in 12 months
- Open World + Open World Survival Craft$14,79431 launches priced, 35 releases in 12 months
- Exploration + Open World Survival Craft$13,97334 launches priced, 26 releases in 12 months
- Adventure + Open World Survival Craftno price32 releases in 12 months
- Base Building + Open World Survival Craftno price31 releases in 12 months
- Building + Open World Survival Craftno price29 releases in 12 months
Verdicts
in developmentGMD Verdicts will be a written read on a niche, built from the same data and the published method on this site. Join the early list and we will email you when the first ones are ready. Nothing on this page is held back while you wait.