Tag pairdata 30 Sep 2026

Action + Cinematic: a typical launch earns $809 in its first year

That is the median of 82 indie paid launches, 2024 Q4 to 2025 Q3. 12 of 158 matured launches earned $100k or more, against 10.5 expected for their price and launch quarter. Releases fell 6% on the year before: 94 against 100.

Big publishers: over 85% from majors or $40+ games

Price: $809
Price vs a year earlier: +48.3%
Releases, 12 months: 94
Upcoming games: 408
Games on the store: 840

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 + Cinematic 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.	6.30%share of upcoming wishlist heat	2.25% to 11.43%	61 ranked of 408 upcoming gameswishlist rank 30 Sep 2026	#24 of 7,193pairs on this board
Launch successLaunches earning $100k or more, against the number expected for their price tier and launch quarter. Big publishers: over 85% from majors or $40+ games	1.11xhits against expected	0.78x to 1.60x	158 launchesindie paid launches 31 Mar 2024 to 1 Apr 2026 (6 to 30 months old)	#2,156 of 6,324pairs on this board
Fewer new releasesFewer launches relative to players. Historically this did not predict better launches.	+68%player demand against new supply, relative to Steam	+30% to +111%	36 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025; releases 30 Sep 2025 to 30 Sep 2026 vs prior 12 months	#66 of 2,361pairs on this board
Rising demandGaining players faster than same-age games. Descriptive, not a launch signal.	+17%review growth against same-age games	+9% to +28%	36 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025	#75 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: 12
Expected: 10.5

Launches: 158
Hit rate: 7.6%3.2% to 11.4%
Expected rate: 6.7%
Against expected: 1.11x0.78x to 1.60x

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

158 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: $809
Top tenth: $20,902

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: 94
Prior 12 months: 100

Change: −6%
Against Steam: −30%after Steam-wide growth, shrunk by 5 releases

Parent tags

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

pairs with Cinematic

Cinematic + Immersive Sim$24,23132 launches priced, 35 releases in 12 months
Psychological Horror + Cinematic$5,00947 launches priced, 58 releases in 12 months
Cinematic + Mystery$4,60234 launches priced, 41 releases in 12 months
Cinematic + Interactive Fiction$4,18748 launches priced, 48 releases in 12 months
Story Rich + Cinematic$4,03368 launches priced, 73 releases in 12 months
Cinematic + Walking Simulator$3,57532 launches priced, 57 releases in 12 months

Every pair with Cinematic

Verdicts

in development

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