Tag pairdata 30 Sep 2026
Niches / Arcade / Action-Adventure
Arcade + Action-Adventure: a typical launch earns $182 in its first year
That is the median of 209 indie paid launches, 2024 Q4 to 2025 Q3. 8 of 431 matured launches earned $100k or more, against 17.5 expected for their price and launch quarter. Releases rose 2% on the year before: 255 against 249.
- Price
- $182 median of 209 launches
- Price vs a year earlier
- −24.9% four quarters on the four before
- Releases, 12 months
- 255 249 the year before
- Upcoming games
- 577 coming soon on Steam
- Games on the store
- 1,866 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. | 0.19%share of upcoming wishlist heat | 0.13% to 0.28% | 21 ranked of 577 upcoming gameswishlist rank 30 Sep 2026 | #1,109 of 7,193pairs on this board |
| Launch successLaunches earning $100k or more, against the number expected for their price tier and launch quarter. | 0.54xhits against expected | 0.37x to 0.83x | 431 launchesindie paid launches 31 Mar 2024 to 1 Apr 2026 (6 to 30 months old) | #5,482 of 6,324pairs on this board |
Fewer new releasesFewer launches relative to players. Historically this did not predict better launches.
| +36%player demand against new supply, relative to Steam | +15% to +61% | 35 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025; releases 30 Sep 2025 to 30 Sep 2026 vs prior 12 months | #359 of 2,361pairs on this board |
Rising demandGaining players faster than same-age games. Descriptive, not a launch signal.
| +3%review growth against same-age games | −8% to +18% | 35 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025 | #1,830 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
- 431
- Hit rate
- 1.9%0.9% to 2.8%
- Expected rate
- 4.1%
- Against expected
- 0.54x0.37x to 0.83x
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
431 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
- $202
- Top tenth
- $5,822
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
- +2%
- Against Steam
- −24%after Steam-wide growth, shrunk by 5 releases
Parent tags
- ArcadeGenre pageRanked on every board, with its best pairs.
- Action-AdventureGenre pageRanked on every board, with its best pairs.
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.
- MARVEL Cosmic Invasion (opens the Steam store)2025 · 2,316 reviews, 88% positiveest. $1.4M
- PAC-MAN WORLD 2 Re-PAC (opens the Steam store)2025 · 700 reviews, 90% positiveest. $567k
- UFO ROBOT GRENDIZER – The Feast of the Wolves (opens the Steam store)2023 · 564 reviews, 84% positiveest. $457k
- Hamster Hunter (opens the Steam store)2024 · 3,522 reviews, 95% positiveest. $356k
- Pepper Grinder (opens the Steam store)2024 · 1,118 reviews, 85% positiveest. $339k
- Super Dark Deception (opens the Steam store)2024 · 662 reviews, 65% positiveest. $241k
- Nikoderiko: The Magical World — Director’s Cut (opens the Steam store)2024 · 346 reviews, 82% positiveest. $210k
- Kong: Survivor Instinct (opens the Steam store)2024 · 340 reviews, 71% positiveest. $172k
More with Arcade
pairs with Arcade- Co-op + Arcade$1,37646 launches priced, 69 releases in 12 months
- Arcade + Twin Stick Shooter$1,01169 launches priced, 100 releases in 12 months
- Arcade + Female Protagonist$96168 launches priced, 82 releases in 12 months
- Arcade + Local Co-Op$96050 launches priced, 58 releases in 12 months
- Arcade + Anime$91052 launches priced, 96 releases in 12 months
- Arcade + Difficult$80679 launches priced, 145 releases in 12 months
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
Verdicts
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