Tag pairdata 30 Sep 2026

Action-Adventure + Dark: a typical launch earns $605 in its first year

That is the median of 89 indie paid launches, 2024 Q4 to 2025 Q3. 15 of 173 matured launches earned $100k or more, against 10.5 expected for their price and launch quarter. Releases rose 7% on the year before: 112 against 105.

Price: $605
Price vs a year earlier: −16.9%
Releases, 12 months: 112
Upcoming games: 352
Games on the store: 814

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-Adventure + Dark 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 Big publishers: over 85% from majors or $40+ games Listed after unflagged rows on this board	1.56%share of upcoming wishlist heat	0.15% to 4.29%	42 ranked of 352 upcoming gameswishlist rank 30 Sep 2026	#4,124 of 7,193pairs on this board
Launch successLaunches earning $100k or more, against the number expected for their price tier and launch quarter.	1.34xhits against expected	0.96x to 1.87x	173 launchesindie paid launches 31 Mar 2024 to 1 Apr 2026 (6 to 30 months old)	#1,215 of 6,324pairs on this board
Fewer new releasesFewer launches relative to players. Historically this did not predict better launches.	+62%player demand against new supply, relative to Steam	+30% to +102%	29 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025; releases 30 Sep 2025 to 30 Sep 2026 vs prior 12 months	#98 of 2,361pairs on this board
Rising demandGaining players faster than same-age games. Descriptive, not a launch signal.	+27%review growth against same-age games	+12% to +44%	29 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025	#4 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: 15
Expected: 10.5

Launches: 173
Hit rate: 8.7%4.7% to 12.5%
Expected rate: 6.1%
Against expected: 1.34x0.96x to 1.87x

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

173 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: $787
Top tenth: $44,603

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: 112
Prior 12 months: 105

Change: +7%
Against Steam: −21%after Steam-wide growth, shrunk by 5 releases

Parent tags

Action-AdventureGenre pageRanked on every board, with its best pairs.
DarkNot 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-Adventure

pairs with Action-Adventure

Action-Adventure + VR$6,75746 launches priced, 38 releases in 12 months
Co-op + Action-Adventure$4,36354 launches priced, 57 releases in 12 months
Online Co-Op + Action-Adventure$4,12753 launches priced, 80 releases in 12 months
Action-Adventure + Dark Fantasy$3,09649 launches priced, 105 releases in 12 months
Metroidvania + Action-Adventure$2,86390 launches priced, 117 releases in 12 months
Action-Adventure + Gore$2,02430 launches priced, 18 releases in 12 months

Every pair with Action-Adventure

More with Dark

pairs with Dark

RPG + Dark$3,32642 launches priced, 68 releases in 12 months
Dark + Female Protagonist$3,04831 launches priced, 31 releases in 12 months
Dark + Supernatural$2,48942 launches priced, 63 releases in 12 months
Story Rich + Dark$2,427120 launches priced, 161 releases in 12 months
Dark + Choices Matter$2,30338 launches priced, 62 releases in 12 months
Visual Novel + Dark$1,85867 launches priced, 112 releases in 12 months

Every pair with Dark

Verdicts

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