Tag pairdata 30 Sep 2026
Niches / Tower Defense / Survival
Tower Defense + Survival: a typical launch earns $1,619 in its first year
That is the median of 47 indie paid launches, 2024 Q4 to 2025 Q3. 11 of 94 matured launches earned $100k or more, against 5.0 expected for their price and launch quarter. Releases rose 28% on the year before: 68 against 53.
- Price
- $1,619 median of 47 launches
- Price vs a year earlier
- +168.7% four quarters on the four before
- Releases, 12 months
- 68 53 the year before
- Upcoming games
- 167 coming soon on Steam
- Games on the store
- 476 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. | 0.12%share of upcoming wishlist heat | 0.07% to 0.17% | 18 ranked of 167 upcoming gameswishlist rank 30 Sep 2026 | #1,558 of 7,193pairs on this board |
| Launch successLaunches earning $100k or more, against the number expected for their price tier and launch quarter. | 1.75xhits against expected | 1.24x to 2.53x | 94 launchesindie paid launches 31 Mar 2024 to 1 Apr 2026 (6 to 30 months old) | #324 of 6,324pairs on this board |
| Fewer new releasesFewer launches relative to players. Historically this did not predict better launches. | Below this board's minimum sample, so not ranked. Needs 15 or more tracked games and 20 or more releases in each 12-month period. | |||
| Rising demandGaining players faster than same-age games. Descriptive, not a launch signal. | Below this board's minimum sample, so not ranked. Needs 15 or more tracked games and 1,000 reviews in each window. | |||
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
- 94
- Hit rate
- 11.7%4.5% to 17.8%
- Expected rate
- 5.3%
- Against expected
- 1.75x1.24x to 2.53x
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
94 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
- $6
- Median
- $986
- Top tenth
- $107,762
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
- +28%
Parent tags
- Tower DefenseGenre pageRanked on every board, with its best pairs.
- SurvivalGenre 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.
- The Front (opens the Steam store)2023 · 9,544 reviews, 66% positiveest. $3.5M
- EverSiege: Untold Ages (opens the Steam store)2026 · 1,923 reviews, 68% positiveest. $778k
- Dread Dawn (opens the Steam store)2024 · 2,114 reviews, 71% positiveest. $616k
- The Spotter: Dig or Die (opens the Steam store)2026 · 1,819 reviews, 84% positiveest. $478k
- Gold Gold Adventure Gold (opens the Steam store)2025 · 915 reviews, 70% positiveest. $463k
- Gnomes (opens the Steam store)2025 · 1,772 reviews, 94% positiveest. $358k
- SENTRY (opens the Steam store)2024 · 857 reviews, 82% positiveest. $347k
- Human Host (opens the Steam store)2026 · 917 reviews, 83% positiveest. $313k
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 + 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
- Tower Defense + Bullet Hell$1,13337 launches priced, 75 releases in 12 months
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 + 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
Verdicts
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