Tag pairdata 30 Sep 2026

Visual Novel + Investigation: a typical launch earns $4,885 in its first year

That is the median of 42 indie paid launches, 2024 Q4 to 2025 Q3. 9 of 79 matured launches earned $100k or more, against 9.5 expected for their price and launch quarter. Releases rose 17% on the year before: 55 against 47.

Price: $4,885
Price vs a year earlier: +23.8%
Releases, 12 months: 55
Upcoming games: 142
Games on the store: 404

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.

Visual Novel + Investigation 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.	0.34%share of upcoming wishlist heat	0.20% to 0.61%	21 ranked of 142 upcoming gameswishlist rank 30 Sep 2026	#675 of 7,193pairs on this board
Launch successLaunches earning $100k or more, against the number expected for their price tier and launch quarter.	0.96xhits against expected	0.67x to 1.42x	79 launchesindie paid launches 31 Mar 2024 to 1 Apr 2026 (6 to 30 months old)	#3,016 of 6,324pairs on this board
Fewer new releasesFewer launches relative to players. Historically this did not predict better launches.	+29%player demand against new supply, relative to Steam	−8% to +85%	29 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025; releases 30 Sep 2025 to 30 Sep 2026 vs prior 12 months	#515 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	+2% to +22%	29 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025	#287 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: 9
Expected: 9.5

Launches: 79
Hit rate: 11.4%6.3% to 23.6%
Expected rate: 12.0%
Against expected: 0.96x0.67x to 1.42x

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 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: $202
Median: $3,339
Top tenth: $140,789

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: 55
Prior 12 months: 47

Change: +17%
Against Steam: −15%after Steam-wide growth, shrunk by 5 releases

Parent tags

Visual NovelGenre pageRanked on every board, with its best pairs.
InvestigationGenre pageRanked on every board, with its best 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 Visual Novel

pairs with Visual Novel

Visual Novel + FMV$65,06531 launches priced, 48 releases in 12 months
Visual Novel + LGBTQ+$6,05083 launches priced, 159 releases in 12 months
Visual Novel + Detective$5,29368 launches priced, 134 releases in 12 months
Visual Novel + Immersive Sim$4,55364 launches priced, 115 releases in 12 months
Visual Novel + Romance$3,639179 launches priced, 277 releases in 12 months
Visual Novel + First-Person$3,50754 launches priced, 104 releases in 12 months

Every pair with Visual Novel

More with Investigation

pairs with Investigation

Story Rich + Investigation$8,90370 launches priced, 96 releases in 12 months
Point & Click + Investigation$4,85753 launches priced, 84 releases in 12 months
Detective + Investigation$3,96395 launches priced, 150 releases in 12 months
Mystery + Investigation$3,336112 launches priced, 171 releases in 12 months
Simulation + Investigation$2,89337 launches priced, 79 releases in 12 months
Adventure + Investigation$2,183117 launches priced, 167 releases in 12 months

Every pair with Investigation

Verdicts

in development

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