Tag pairdata 30 Sep 2026

Action + Cartoon: a typical launch earns $343 in its first year

That is the median of 120 indie paid launches, 2024 Q4 to 2025 Q3. 6 of 235 matured launches earned $100k or more, against 15.7 expected for their price and launch quarter. Releases fell 12% on the year before: 134 against 152.

Price: $343
Price vs a year earlier: −15.1%
Releases, 12 months: 134
Upcoming games: 390
Games on the store: 1,203

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.

Action + Cartoon 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.	0.10%share of upcoming wishlist heat	0.07% to 0.12%	24 ranked of 390 upcoming gameswishlist rank 30 Sep 2026	#1,774 of 7,193pairs on this board
Launch successLaunches earning $100k or more, against the number expected for their price tier and launch quarter.	0.48xhits against expected	0.33x to 0.77x	235 launchesindie paid launches 31 Mar 2024 to 1 Apr 2026 (6 to 30 months old)	#5,639 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: 6
Expected: 15.7

Launches: 235
Hit rate: 2.6%1.4% to 6.2%
Expected rate: 6.7%
Against expected: 0.48x0.33x to 0.77x

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

235 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: $403
Top tenth: $14,835

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: 134
Prior 12 months: 152

Change: −12%

Parent tags

ActionNot a genreA theme, mood, feature or presentation tag: never ranked as a market on its own, only inside pairs.
CartoonNot 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 Action

pairs with Action

Action + Mechs$7,85932 launches priced, 46 releases in 12 months
Action + Bullet Heaven$6,31331 launches priced, 177 releases in 12 months
Action + Co-op$3,733172 launches priced, 259 releases in 12 months
Action + Team-Based$2,97239 launches priced, 71 releases in 12 months
Action + Metroidvania$2,893107 launches priced, 128 releases in 12 months
Action + Fighting$2,52840 launches priced, 34 releases in 12 months

Every pair with Action

More with Cartoon

pairs with Cartoon

Exploration + Cartoon$48541 launches priced, 51 releases in 12 months
Simulation + Cartoon$44567 launches priced, 77 releases in 12 months
Puzzle + Cartoon$443100 launches priced, 105 releases in 12 months
Adventure + Cartoon$424113 launches priced, 132 releases in 12 months
Cartoon + Family Friendly$40551 launches priced, 57 releases in 12 months
Platformer + Cartoon$36446 launches priced, 45 releases in 12 months

Every pair with Cartoon

Verdicts

in development

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