Tag pairdata 30 Sep 2026

2D + Combat: a typical launch earns $202 in its first year

That is the median of 144 indie paid launches, 2024 Q4 to 2025 Q3. 8 of 307 matured launches earned $100k or more, against 14.6 expected for their price and launch quarter. Releases rose 39% on the year before: 244 against 176.

Price: $202
Price vs a year earlier: −9.2%
Releases, 12 months: 244
Upcoming games: 544
Games on the store: 1,358

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 + Combat 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.	0.18%share of upcoming wishlist heat	0.11% to 0.28%	23 ranked of 544 upcoming gameswishlist rank 30 Sep 2026	#1,134 of 7,193pairs on this board
Launch successLaunches earning $100k or more, against the number expected for their price tier and launch quarter.	0.62xhits against expected	0.43x to 0.96x	307 launchesindie paid launches 31 Mar 2024 to 1 Apr 2026 (6 to 30 months old)	#5,144 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 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: 8
Expected: 14.6

Launches: 307
Hit rate: 2.6%0.6% to 5.5%
Expected rate: 4.8%
Against expected: 0.62x0.43x to 0.96x

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

307 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: $14,376

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: 244
Prior 12 months: 176

Change: +39%

Parent tags

2DNot a genreA theme, mood, feature or presentation tag: never ranked as a market on its own, only inside pairs.
CombatNot 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 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 Combat

pairs with Combat

Combat + Action RPG$1,57755 launches priced, 70 releases in 12 months
Roguelite + Combat$1,20546 launches priced, 87 releases in 12 months
Exploration + Combat$1,17356 launches priced, 88 releases in 12 months
Hack and Slash + Combat$80946 launches priced, 66 releases in 12 months
Combat + Beat 'em up$80933 launches priced, 44 releases in 12 months
RPG + Combat$76896 launches priced, 139 releases in 12 months

Every pair with Combat

Verdicts

in development

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