Tag pairdata 30 Sep 2026

Tower Defense + 3D: a typical launch earns $233 in its first year

That is the median of 92 indie paid launches, 2024 Q4 to 2025 Q3. 4 of 207 matured launches earned $100k or more, against 9.5 expected for their price and launch quarter. Releases rose 29% on the year before: 139 against 108.

One game dominates the figure

Price: $233
Price vs a year earlier: −53.0%
Releases, 12 months: 139
Upcoming games: 391
Games on the store: 967

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.

Tower Defense + 3D 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	0.32%share of upcoming wishlist heat	0.09% to 0.61%	11 ranked of 391 upcoming gameswishlist rank 30 Sep 2026	#4,730 of 7,193pairs on this board
Launch successLaunches earning $100k or more, against the number expected for their price tier and launch quarter. One game dominates the figure	0.56xhits against expected	0.39x to 0.94x	207 launchesindie paid launches 31 Mar 2024 to 1 Apr 2026 (6 to 30 months old)	#5,402 of 6,324pairs on this board
Fewer new releasesFewer launches relative to players. Historically this did not predict better launches.	−1%player demand against new supply, relative to Steam	−21% to +22%	15 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025; releases 30 Sep 2025 to 30 Sep 2026 vs prior 12 months	#1,484 of 2,361pairs on this board
Rising demandGaining players faster than same-age games. Descriptive, not a launch signal.	−7%review growth against same-age games	−14% to +2%	15 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025	#1,128 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: 4
Expected: 9.5

Launches: 207
Hit rate: 1.9%0.5% to 3.9%
Expected rate: 4.6%
Against expected: 0.56x0.39x to 0.94x

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

206 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: $304
Top tenth: $6,333

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: 139
Prior 12 months: 108

Change: +29%
Against Steam: −6%after Steam-wide growth, shrunk by 5 releases

Parent tags

Tower DefenseGenre pageRanked on every board, with its best pairs.
3DNot 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 Tower Defense

pairs with Tower Defense

Tower Defense + City Builder$8,80032 launches priced, 43 releases in 12 months
Tower Defense + Base Building$2,00381 launches priced, 129 releases in 12 months
Tower Defense + Survival$1,61947 launches priced, 68 releases in 12 months
Tower Defense + Roguelite$1,516109 launches priced, 196 releases in 12 months
Tower Defense + Roguelike$1,17390 launches priced, 163 releases in 12 months
Tower Defense + Resource Management$1,13335 launches priced, 71 releases in 12 months

Every pair with Tower Defense

More with 3D

pairs with 3D

3D + Dark Humor$3,90132 launches priced, 46 releases in 12 months
3D + Cozy$3,23738 launches priced, 91 releases in 12 months
3D + Economy$3,15761 launches priced, 109 releases in 12 months
3D + Management$2,196130 launches priced, 192 releases in 12 months
Story Rich + 3D$2,162144 launches priced, 256 releases in 12 months
3D + Resource Management$2,02434 launches priced, 66 releases in 12 months

Every pair with 3D

Verdicts

in development

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