Tag pairdata 30 Sep 2026
Niches / Adventure / Emotional
Adventure + Emotional: a typical launch earns $2,488 in its first year
That is the median of 136 indie paid launches, 2024 Q4 to 2025 Q3. 28 of 263 matured launches earned $100k or more, against 23.5 expected for their price and launch quarter. Releases rose 20% on the year before: 194 against 162.
- Price
- $2,488 median of 136 launches
- Price vs a year earlier
- +11.8% four quarters on the four before
- Releases, 12 months
- 194 162 the year before
- Upcoming games
- 642 coming soon on Steam
- Games on the store
- 1,496 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. | 0.97%share of upcoming wishlist heat | 0.44% to 1.46% | 68 ranked of 642 upcoming gameswishlist rank 30 Sep 2026 | #232 of 7,193pairs on this board |
| Launch successLaunches earning $100k or more, against the number expected for their price tier and launch quarter. | 1.17xhits against expected | 0.90x to 1.52x | 263 launchesindie paid launches 31 Mar 2024 to 1 Apr 2026 (6 to 30 months old) | #1,889 of 6,324pairs on this board |
| Fewer new releasesFewer launches relative to players. Historically this did not predict better launches. | +18%player demand against new supply, relative to Steam | −5% to +40% | 97 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025; releases 30 Sep 2025 to 30 Sep 2026 vs prior 12 months | #809 of 2,361pairs on this board |
| Rising demandGaining players faster than same-age games. Descriptive, not a launch signal. | +4%review growth against same-age games | −7% to +14% | 97 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025 | #633 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
- 263
- Hit rate
- 10.6%6.0% to 16.6%
- Expected rate
- 8.9%
- Against expected
- 1.17x0.90x to 1.52x
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
263 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
- $61
- Median
- $2,543
- Top tenth
- $105,327
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
- +20%
- Against Steam
- −12%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.
- Until Then (opens the Steam store)2024 · 15,814 reviews, 96% positiveest. $6.2M
- WITCH ON THE HOLY NIGHT (opens the Steam store)2023 · 7,312 reviews, 98% positiveest. $4.1M
- Neva (opens the Steam store)2024 · 9,380 reviews, 93% positiveest. $3.5M
- Song of Nunu: A League of Legends Story (opens the Steam store)2023 · 2,745 reviews, 93% positiveest. $1.6M
- Copycat (opens the Steam store)2024 · 4,641 reviews, 89% positiveest. $1.4M
- Constance (opens the Steam store)2025 · 2,890 reviews, 82% positiveest. $1.1M
- GINKA (opens the Steam store)2023 · 2,685 reviews, 91% positiveest. $758k
- Rue Valley (opens the Steam store)2025 · 1,917 reviews, 69% positiveest. $582k
More with Adventure
pairs with Adventure- Adventure + Cozy$32,10838 launches priced, 93 releases in 12 months
- Adventure + Narrative$12,85033 launches priced, 48 releases in 12 months
- Adventure + LGBTQ+$7,36637 launches priced, 54 releases in 12 months
- Adventure + Online Co-Op$6,34186 launches priced, 187 releases in 12 months
- Adventure + Base Building$5,35342 launches priced, 47 releases in 12 months
- Adventure + Building$4,85745 launches priced, 62 releases in 12 months
More with Emotional
pairs with Emotional- Emotional + Hand-drawn$3,75736 launches priced, 43 releases in 12 months
- Story Rich + Emotional$3,130121 launches priced, 200 releases in 12 months
- Emotional + Multiple Endings$3,03442 launches priced, 72 releases in 12 months
- Anime + Emotional$2,67157 launches priced, 94 releases in 12 months
- Cute + Emotional$2,67167 launches priced, 92 releases in 12 months
- Romance + Emotional$2,42738 launches priced, 66 releases in 12 months
Verdicts
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