Genres

Ticker: price and year-over-year change for 40 genres. Price is the median estimated first-year revenue of indie paid launches. The change shows for genres with 100+ launches. The same figures are on the Genres page.

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Live games
192,217
on 3 Oct 2026

Niches 3 Oct

Of 1,115 niches with 30+ launches at $10 to $20, 500 beat the 18 in 100 base rate. Price moves the odds most: 1 in 219 under $5, 40 in 100 at $20 to $40.500 of 1,115 niches beat the 18 in 100 base rate.500 beat the base rate.

Typical launch, all prices, first year $540

Niches

Every tag pair (two tags on the same game), screened by how often its indie launches earned $100k or more in their first year. Pick your price first: price moves the odds more than the tags do.

Indie paid Steam launches 12 to 36 months old, data 3 Oct 2026. A hit is an estimated first year of $100k+. Earnings are sales on Steam after discounts and regional prices, before Steam's 30% cut, refunds and sales tax. About 58% of it reaches the developer. The revenue estimate is soft: about 5 to 8 in 100 launches overall.

The niche list

Best odds at my priceChance of $100k+, read within one price band.Now: Building + Life Sim, 57 in 100. 1,115 match.Steady marketsHolds in every lens and no single game owns it.Now: Cinematic + Story Rich, 52 in 100. 362 match.Biggest typical yearWhat the middle launch earned, highest first.Now: Cinematic + Story Rich, $133,868 typical. 1,115 match.Biggest upsideWhat the top tenth earned at least.Now: Casual + Cozy, $2.1M top 1 in 10. 563 match.Proven at scale100+ launches and above the base rate.Now: Economy + Simulation, 36 in 100. 57 match.Busiest marketsMost launches first: where the competition is.Now: Adventure + Exploration, 390 launches. 1,115 match.
Hide one-hit markets132 outHide small samples251 outBeats the base rate+615 if off

1,115 of 4,634 niches have 30+ launches at $10 to $20. 500 match the search and chips. Sorted by chance of $100k+, lowest first.

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Niches at $10 to $20, sorted by chance of $100k+. The first row is the base rate.
Rank#NicheChance of $100k+Typical yearTop 1 in 10LaunchesMarkersPin
All games at $10 to $20the base rate: the row to beat 18 in 100758 of 4,301 $8,234$217,858 4,301
1 18 in 100 earned $100k+, from 34 launches 18 in 1006 hits $18,545 $348,843 34 Small Pin 2D + Hack and Slash
2 18 in 100 earned $100k+, from 34 launches 18 in 1006 hits $6,320 $265,278 34 Small Pin 2D Platformer + Arcade
3 18 in 100 earned $100k+, from 34 launches 18 in 1006 hits $2,853 $475,739 34 Small Pin Action-Adventure + Third-Person Shooter
4 18 in 100 earned $100k+, from 34 launches 18 in 1006 hits $8,103 $144,460 34 SmallAudience Pin Dating Sim + LGBTQ+
5 18 in 100 earned $100k+, from 34 launches 18 in 1006 hits $7,343 $1,007,824 34 Small Pin Fantasy + Roguelike
6 18 in 100 earned $100k+, from 34 launches 18 in 1006 hits $24,035 $139,170 34 Small Pin Immersive Sim + Strategy
7 18 in 100 earned $100k+, from 34 launches 18 in 1006 hits $4,826 $156,997 34 SmallAudience Pin Pixel Graphics + Top-Down
8 18 in 100 earned $100k+, from 181 launches 18 in 10032 hits $14,050 $206,730 181 Audience Pin Story Rich + Visual Novel
9 18 in 100 earned $100k+, from 96 launches 18 in 10017 hits $10,805 $267,786 96 Audience Pin RTS + Strategy
10 18 in 100 earned $100k+, from 45 launches 18 in 1008 hits $7,843 $315,320 45 Small Pin Casual + Comedy
11 18 in 100 earned $100k+, from 45 launches 18 in 1008 hits $18,701 $141,616 45 1-hitSmall Pin Crafting + RPG
12 18 in 100 earned $100k+, from 45 launches 18 in 1008 hits $18,216 $359,391 45 Small Pin Dungeon Crawler + Strategy
13 18 in 100 earned $100k+, from 45 launches 18 in 1008 hits $15,314 $261,863 45 Small Pin Mystery + Psychological Horror
14 18 in 100 earned $100k+, from 45 launches 18 in 1008 hits $5,516 $140,459 45 Small Pin PvP + Strategy
15 18 in 100 earned $100k+, from 118 launches 18 in 10021 hits $9,368 $222,968 118 none Pin First-Person + Horror
16 18 in 100 earned $100k+, from 73 launches 18 in 10013 hits $18,219 $237,548 73 1-hit Pin 2D + Hand-drawn
17 18 in 100 earned $100k+, from 73 launches 18 in 10013 hits $13,192 $251,403 73 none Pin Adventure + Funny
18 18 in 100 earned $100k+, from 73 launches 18 in 10013 hits $3,798 $241,364 73 none Pin Exploration + Third Person
19 18 in 100 earned $100k+, from 134 launches 18 in 10024 hits $12,851 $252,191 134 1-hit Pin 2D + Exploration
20 Action + Pixel Graphics18 in 100 earned $100k+, from 156 launches 18 in 10028 hits $9,192 $203,291 156 Audience Pin Action + Pixel Graphics

18 in 100 earned $100k+, from 156 launches at $10 to $20. That is level with the base rate.

Base rate at $10 to $20: 18 in 100 (758 of 4,301 launches earned $100k+).

Typical first year $9,192; the top 1 in 10 earned at least $203,291.

Lens check, all pricesAudience split. Standard: the base the others are compared with. West-facing view: moves the answer. Without the breakout: holds. Last 18 months: holds.

  • AudienceAudience split: this niche reads differently for Western players: the chance moves from 1 in 28 to 1 in 29 in the West-facing view (games mostly reviewed outside China). Review language is measured for games with 2,000+ reviews; for smaller games it is guessed from the name.
Chance of $100k+ at every price (Standard lens)
PriceChanceLaunchesTypical
All prices1 in 281,355$354
Under $52 of 804 launches804$141
$5 to $101 in 40358$993
$10 to $2018 in 100156$9,192
$20 to $4027 in 10037$49,967

Grey: under 30 launches or 5 hits at that price, written as a count. Odds compare best within one price.

Its two tags alone, at $10 to $20

  • Actionstyle tag17 in 100 earned $100k+, from 1,084 launches
  • Pixel Graphicsstyle tag22 in 100 earned $100k+, from 491 launches
Open niche pageCheck this idea
21 18 in 100 earned $100k+, from 78 launches 18 in 10014 hits $10,468 $382,254 78 Audience Pin Action + Female Protagonist
22 18 in 100 earned $100k+, from 39 launches 18 in 1007 hits $9,996 $237,548 39 Small Pin 2D + Card Battler
23 18 in 100 earned $100k+, from 100 launches 18 in 10018 hits $8,939 $289,238 100 none Pin Casual + First-Person
24 18 in 100 earned $100k+, from 72 launches 18 in 10013 hits $13,651 $254,066 72 none Pin Exploration + Survival
25 18 in 100 earned $100k+, from 110 launches 18 in 10020 hits $5,171 $207,217 110 none Pin Point & Click + Story Rich
Show 25 moreShowing 25 of 500 niches
green beats the base ratecoral below it bar: the chance; amber tick: the base rate1-hit one game holds over half the moneySmall under 50 launches in this viewAudience reads differently for Western players

Under 30 launches or 5 hits a chance is written as a count ("3 of 12"), never as odds. Typical year is the middle launch's first-year earnings. Lenses, the one-hit share and the audience split are measured across all prices. A game counts in every pair its tags make.

Releases

Ticker: 30 upcoming games dated within 90 days, with wishlist rank, release date and followers. The same list is on the Upcoming page.