Tag pairdata 30 Sep 2026

3D + Investigation: a typical launch earns $349 in its first year

That is the median of 56 indie paid launches, 2024 Q4 to 2025 Q3. 3 of 117 matured launches earned $100k or more, against 6.6 expected for their price and launch quarter. Releases rose 21% on the year before: 74 against 61.

One game dominates the figure

Price: $349
Price vs a year earlier: −61.3%
Releases, 12 months: 74
Upcoming games: 186
Games on the store: 482

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.

3D + 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.	0.09%share of upcoming wishlist heat	0.05% to 0.14%	17 ranked of 186 upcoming gameswishlist rank 30 Sep 2026	#1,849 of 7,193pairs on this board
Launch successLaunches earning $100k or more, against the number expected for their price tier and launch quarter. One game dominates the figure	0.62xhits against expected	0.44x to 1.07x	117 launchesindie paid launches 31 Mar 2024 to 1 Apr 2026 (6 to 30 months old)	#5,142 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: 3
Expected: 6.6

Launches: 117
Hit rate: 2.6%1.5% to 10.2%
Expected rate: 5.7%
Against expected: 0.62x0.44x to 1.07x

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

117 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: $526
Top tenth: $20,522

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: 74
Prior 12 months: 61

Change: +21%

Parent tags

3DNot a genreA theme, mood, feature or presentation tag: never ranked as a market on its own, only inside 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 3D

pairs with 3D

3D + Dark Humor$3,90132 launches priced, 46 releases in 12 months
3D + Cozy$3,23738 launches priced, 91 releases in 12 months
3D + Economy$3,15761 launches priced, 109 releases in 12 months
3D + Management$2,196130 launches priced, 192 releases in 12 months
Story Rich + 3D$2,162144 launches priced, 256 releases in 12 months
3D + Resource Management$2,02434 launches priced, 66 releases in 12 months

Every pair with 3D

More with Investigation

pairs with Investigation

Story Rich + Investigation$8,90370 launches priced, 96 releases in 12 months
Visual Novel + Investigation$4,88542 launches priced, 55 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

Every pair with Investigation

Verdicts

in development

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