Tag pairdata 30 Sep 2026
Action + Zombies: a typical launch earns $283 in its first year
That is the median of 153 indie paid launches, 2024 Q4 to 2025 Q3. 15 of 288 matured launches earned $100k or more, against 14.9 expected for their price and launch quarter. Releases rose 5% on the year before: 178 against 170.
- Big publishers: over 85% from majors or $40+ games
- Price
- $283 median of 153 launches
- Price vs a year earlier
- −52.1% four quarters on the four before
- Releases, 12 months
- 178 170 the year before
- Upcoming games
- 533 coming soon on Steam
- Games on the store
- 1,955 carrying both tags
Boards
as of 30 Sep 2026Where this pair stands on each board of the front page. Every value carries its 90% interval and its sample.
| Board | Value | Interval | Sample | Standing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Most anticipatedShare of all upcoming wishlist heat on Steam, with the number of upcoming games beside it. | 3.91%share of upcoming wishlist heat | 1.44% to 6.97% | 54 ranked of 533 upcoming gameswishlist rank 30 Sep 2026 | #44 of 7,193pairs on this board |
Launch successLaunches earning $100k or more, against the number expected for their price tier and launch quarter.
| 1.00xhits against expected | 0.72x to 1.42x | 288 launchesindie paid launches 31 Mar 2024 to 1 Apr 2026 (6 to 30 months old) | #2,777 of 6,324pairs on this board |
Fewer new releasesFewer launches relative to players. Historically this did not predict better launches.
| +41%player demand against new supply, relative to Steam | +12% to +73% | 50 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025; releases 30 Sep 2025 to 30 Sep 2026 vs prior 12 months | #282 of 2,361pairs on this board |
Rising demandGaining players faster than same-age games. Descriptive, not a launch signal.
| +9%review growth against same-age games | −7% to +23% | 50 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025 | #1,610 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 oldMatured indie paid launches that earned an estimated $100k or more, against the number expected for games at the same price tier and launch quarter.
- Launches
- 288
- Hit rate
- 5.2%2.0% to 7.5%
- Expected rate
- 5.2%
- Against expected
- 1.00x0.72x to 1.42x
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
288 launchesEstimated 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
- $383
- Top tenth
- $17,167
Estimated from Steam review counts. Lifetime to date, so it differs from the first-year price above.
Supply
raw release countsGames released with both tags, last 12 months against the 12 before.
- Change
- +5%
- Against Steam
- −23%after Steam-wide growth, shrunk by 5 releases
Parent tags
Comparable games
8 indie titlesThe 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.
- Killing Floor 3 (opens the Steam store)2025 · 16,543 reviews, 46% positiveest. $13M
- No More Room in Hell 2 (opens the Steam store)2024 · 17,104 reviews, 62% positiveest. $9.5M
- Into the Dead: Our Darkest Days (opens the Steam store)2025 · 9,126 reviews, 89% positiveest. $4.2M
- Arizona Sunshine® VR 2 (opens the Steam store)2023 · 2,278 reviews, 84% positiveest. $1.3M
- IfSunSets (opens the Steam store)2024 · 2,304 reviews, 74% positiveest. $856k
- Welcome to ParadiZe (opens the Steam store)2024 · 1,094 reviews, 67% positiveest. $664k
- Arizona Sunshine® VR Remake (opens the Steam store)2024 · 1,225 reviews, 88% positiveest. $496k
- Zombieville USA 3D (opens the Steam store)2025 · 2,190 reviews, 92% positiveest. $443k
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
More with Zombies
pairs with Zombies- Zombies + Survival$1,81973 launches priced, 70 releases in 12 months
- RPG + Zombies$1,02234 launches priced, 25 releases in 12 months
- Zombies + Exploration$99132 launches priced, 36 releases in 12 months
- Zombies + Post-apocalyptic$85064 launches priced, 70 releases in 12 months
- Zombies + Horror$64881 launches priced, 67 releases in 12 months
- Strategy + Zombies$48533 launches priced, 42 releases in 12 months
Verdicts
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