Tag pairdata 30 Sep 2026

2D + Action-Adventure: a typical launch earns $202 in its first year

That is the median of 425 indie paid launches, 2024 Q4 to 2025 Q3. 28 of 820 matured launches earned $100k or more, against 39.9 expected for their price and launch quarter. Releases rose 4% on the year before: 534 against 512.

Price: $202
Price vs a year earlier: −0.1%
Releases, 12 months: 534
Upcoming games: 1,557
Games on the store: 4,171

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.

2D + Action-Adventure 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	1.36%share of upcoming wishlist heat	0.54% to 2.63%	95 ranked of 1,558 upcoming gameswishlist rank 30 Sep 2026	#4,177 of 7,193pairs on this board
Launch successLaunches earning $100k or more, against the number expected for their price tier and launch quarter.	0.72xhits against expected	0.55x to 0.95x	820 launchesindie paid launches 31 Mar 2024 to 1 Apr 2026 (6 to 30 months old)	#4,603 of 6,324pairs on this board
Fewer new releasesFewer launches relative to players. Historically this did not predict better launches.	+40%player demand against new supply, relative to Steam	+23% to +61%	97 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025; releases 30 Sep 2025 to 30 Sep 2026 vs prior 12 months	#293 of 2,361pairs on this board
Rising demandGaining players faster than same-age games. Descriptive, not a launch signal.	+8%review growth against same-age games	0% to +18%	97 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025	#410 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: 28
Expected: 39.9

Launches: 820
Hit rate: 3.4%1.3% to 4.4%
Expected rate: 4.9%
Against expected: 0.72x0.55x to 0.95x

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

821 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: $201
Top tenth: $10,321

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: 534
Prior 12 months: 512

Change: +4%
Against Steam: −23%after Steam-wide growth, shrunk by 5 releases

Parent tags

2DNot a genreA theme, mood, feature or presentation tag: never ranked as a market on its own, only inside pairs.
Action-AdventureGenre 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 2D

pairs with 2D

2D + Roguelike Deckbuilder$6,77234 launches priced, 64 releases in 12 months
2D + Romance$3,28176 launches priced, 110 releases in 12 months
War + 2D$3,16035 launches priced, 55 releases in 12 months
2D + Dating Sim$2,55991 launches priced, 116 releases in 12 months
2D + LGBTQ+$2,46550 launches priced, 85 releases in 12 months
2D + Historical$2,32474 launches priced, 130 releases in 12 months

Every pair with 2D

More with Action-Adventure

pairs with Action-Adventure

Action-Adventure + VR$6,75746 launches priced, 38 releases in 12 months
Co-op + Action-Adventure$4,36354 launches priced, 57 releases in 12 months
Online Co-Op + Action-Adventure$4,12753 launches priced, 80 releases in 12 months
Action-Adventure + Dark Fantasy$3,09649 launches priced, 105 releases in 12 months
Metroidvania + Action-Adventure$2,86390 launches priced, 117 releases in 12 months
Action-Adventure + Gore$2,02430 launches priced, 18 releases in 12 months

Every pair with Action-Adventure

Verdicts

in development

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