Tag pairdata 30 Sep 2026
Arcade + Combat: a typical launch earns $202 in its first year
That is the median of 75 indie paid launches, 2024 Q4 to 2025 Q3. 4 of 158 matured launches earned $100k or more, against 9.6 expected for their price and launch quarter. Releases rose 39% on the year before: 129 against 93.
- Price
- $202 median of 75 launches
- Price vs a year earlier
- −16.7% four quarters on the four before
- Releases, 12 months
- 129 93 the year before
- Upcoming games
- 225 coming soon on Steam
- Games on the store
- 699 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.
| 0.06%share of upcoming wishlist heat | 0.02% to 0.11% | 8 ranked of 225 upcoming gameswishlist rank 30 Sep 2026 | #6,218 of 7,193pairs on this board |
| Launch successLaunches earning $100k or more, against the number expected for their price tier and launch quarter. | 0.55xhits against expected | 0.38x to 0.93x | 158 launchesindie paid launches 31 Mar 2024 to 1 Apr 2026 (6 to 30 months old) | #5,428 of 6,324pairs on this board |
| Fewer new releasesFewer launches relative to players. Historically this did not predict better launches. | Below this board's minimum sample, so not ranked. Needs 15 or more tracked games and 20 or more releases in each 12-month period. | |||
| Rising demandGaining players faster than same-age games. Descriptive, not a launch signal. | Below this board's minimum sample, so not ranked. Needs 15 or more tracked games and 1,000 reviews in each window. | |||
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
- 158
- Hit rate
- 2.5%0.6% to 7.2%
- Expected rate
- 6.1%
- Against expected
- 0.55x0.38x to 0.93x
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
158 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
- $242
- Top tenth
- $16,587
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
- +39%
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.
- Terminator 2D: NO FATE (opens the Steam store)2025 · 1,463 reviews, 84% positiveest. $888k
- Outhold (opens the Steam store)2025 · 1,826 reviews, 86% positiveest. $258k
- Iron Saga VS (opens the Steam store)2025 · 376 reviews, 79% positiveest. $228k
- G-Rebels (opens the Steam store)2026 · 267 reviews, 79% positiveest. $162k
- Commando Collection (opens the Steam store)2024 · 1,421 reviews, 95% positiveest. $144k
- Flashback 2 (opens the Steam store)2023 · 131 reviews, 47% positiveest. $106k
- Neptunia Riders VS Dogoos (opens the Steam store)2025 · 113 reviews, 69% positiveest. $92k
- Tech Blast (opens the Steam store)2025 · 90 reviews, 92% positiveest. $73k
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 Combat
pairs with Combat- Combat + Action RPG$1,57755 launches priced, 70 releases in 12 months
- Roguelite + Combat$1,20546 launches priced, 87 releases in 12 months
- Exploration + Combat$1,17356 launches priced, 88 releases in 12 months
- Hack and Slash + Combat$80946 launches priced, 66 releases in 12 months
- Combat + Beat 'em up$80933 launches priced, 44 releases in 12 months
- RPG + Combat$76896 launches priced, 139 releases in 12 months
Verdicts
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