Tag pairdata 30 Sep 2026

Action + Retro: a typical launch earns $405 in its first year

That is the median of 298 indie paid launches, 2024 Q4 to 2025 Q3. 27 of 588 matured launches earned $100k or more, against 31.3 expected for their price and launch quarter. Releases rose 29% on the year before: 440 against 341.

Price: $405
Price vs a year earlier: −51.1%
Releases, 12 months: 440
Upcoming games: 878
Games on the store: 3,988

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 + Retro 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.	0.80%share of upcoming wishlist heat	0.54% to 1.13%	83 ranked of 878 upcoming gameswishlist rank 30 Sep 2026	#296 of 7,193pairs on this board
Launch successLaunches earning $100k or more, against the number expected for their price tier and launch quarter.	0.87xhits against expected	0.66x to 1.16x	588 launchesindie paid launches 31 Mar 2024 to 1 Apr 2026 (6 to 30 months old)	#3,594 of 6,324pairs on this board
Fewer new releasesFewer launches relative to players. Historically this did not predict better launches.	+10%player demand against new supply, relative to Steam	−4% to +26%	99 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025; releases 30 Sep 2025 to 30 Sep 2026 vs prior 12 months	#1,082 of 2,361pairs on this board
Rising demandGaining players faster than same-age games. Descriptive, not a launch signal.	+5%review growth against same-age games	−4% to +14%	99 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025	#589 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: 27
Expected: 31.3

Launches: 588
Hit rate: 4.6%2.4% to 7.2%
Expected rate: 5.3%
Against expected: 0.87x0.66x to 1.16x

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

588 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: $606
Top tenth: $23,909

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: 440
Prior 12 months: 341

Change: +29%
Against Steam: −5%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.
RetroNot 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 Retro

pairs with Retro

Story Rich + Retro$3,28551 launches priced, 77 releases in 12 months
Psychological Horror + Retro$1,59566 launches priced, 104 releases in 12 months
Horror + Retro$1,574105 launches priced, 151 releases in 12 months
Simulation + Retro$1,45461 launches priced, 124 releases in 12 months
Retro + 1990's$1,41683 launches priced, 147 releases in 12 months
Retro + Mystery$1,40436 launches priced, 59 releases in 12 months

Every pair with Retro

Verdicts

in development

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