Tag pairdata 30 Sep 2026

4X + Exploration: 20 releases in the last 12 months

There is no price yet: it needs 30 or more indie paid launches in the last four complete quarters. 2 of 13 matured launches earned $100k or more. Releases rose 233% on the year before: 20 against 6.

Small sample
China market: over 35% of reviews are Chinese
One game dominates the figure

Price: n/a
Price vs a year earlier: n/a
Releases, 12 months: 20
Upcoming games: 65
Games on the store: 135

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.

4X + Exploration 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	0.33%share of upcoming wishlist heat	0.13% to 0.63%	10 ranked of 65 upcoming gameswishlist rank 30 Sep 2026	#4,714 of 7,193pairs on this board
Launch successLaunches earning $100k or more, against the number expected for their price tier and launch quarter.	Below this board's minimum sample, so not ranked. Needs 30 or more matured launches.
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

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: 2

Launches: 13
Hit rate: 15.4%0.0% to 35.5%
Expected rate: 14.9%

Under 30 matured launches, so this pair is not on the launch success board. Read these counts as a small sample.

Revenue spread

13 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: $437
Median: $4,250
Top tenth: $243,934

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: 20
Prior 12 months: 6

Change: +233%

Parent tags

4XGenre pageRanked on every board, with its best pairs.
ExplorationNot 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 4X

pairs with 4X

Simulation + 4Xno price41 releases in 12 months
4X + Grand Strategyno price38 releases in 12 months
4X + Turn-Based Strategyno price34 releases in 12 months
4X + 2Dno price26 releases in 12 months
4X + Wargameno price24 releases in 12 months
4X + Turn-Based Tacticsno price18 releases in 12 months

Every pair with 4X

More with Exploration

pairs with Exploration

Exploration + Cozy$24,01549 launches priced, 99 releases in 12 months
Exploration + Open World Survival Craft$13,97334 launches priced, 26 releases in 12 months
Driving + Exploration$10,40830 launches priced, 42 releases in 12 months
Exploration + Multiplayer$8,00174 launches priced, 137 releases in 12 months
Exploration + Online Co-Op$7,08069 launches priced, 134 releases in 12 months
Co-op + Exploration$5,14762 launches priced, 101 releases in 12 months

Every pair with Exploration

Verdicts

in development

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