Tag pairdata 30 Sep 2026
Niches / Arcade / Twin Stick Shooter
Arcade + Twin Stick Shooter: a typical launch earns $1,011 in its first year
That is the median of 69 indie paid launches, 2024 Q4 to 2025 Q3. 4 of 126 matured launches earned $100k or more, against 4.5 expected for their price and launch quarter. Releases rose 27% on the year before: 100 against 79.
- Price
- $1,011 median of 69 launches
- Price vs a year earlier
- −9.0% four quarters on the four before
- Releases, 12 months
- 100 79 the year before
- Upcoming games
- 217 coming soon on Steam
- Games on the store
- 749 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. | 0.02%share of upcoming wishlist heat | 0.01% to 0.02% | 8 ranked of 217 upcoming gameswishlist rank 30 Sep 2026 | #3,572 of 7,193pairs on this board |
| Launch successLaunches earning $100k or more, against the number expected for their price tier and launch quarter. | 0.94xhits against expected | 0.64x to 1.56x | 126 launchesindie paid launches 31 Mar 2024 to 1 Apr 2026 (6 to 30 months old) | #3,208 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
- 126
- Hit rate
- 3.2%0.8% to 5.2%
- Expected rate
- 3.5%
- Against expected
- 0.94x0.64x to 1.56x
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
126 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
- $10
- Median
- $768
- Top tenth
- $14,244
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
- +27%
Parent tags
- ArcadeGenre pageRanked on every board, with its best pairs.
- Twin Stick ShooterGenre 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.
- Temtem: Swarm (opens the Steam store)2024 · 2,492 reviews, 77% positiveest. $630k
- KILL KNIGHT (opens the Steam store)2024 · 1,816 reviews, 93% positiveest. $551k
- Windowkill (opens the Steam store)2024 · 3,399 reviews, 95% positiveest. $343k
- Sektori (opens the Steam store)2025 · 904 reviews, 96% positiveest. $274k
- Go Mecha Ball (opens the Steam store)2024 · 372 reviews, 86% positiveest. $151k
- Shotgun Cop Man (opens the Steam store)2025 · 647 reviews, 96% positiveest. $131k
- Entropy Survivors (opens the Steam store)2024 · 489 reviews, 80% positiveest. $99k
- Champion Shift (opens the Steam store)2024 · 200 reviews, 77% positiveest. $49k
More with Arcade
pairs with Arcade- Co-op + Arcade$1,37646 launches priced, 69 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
- Driving + Arcade$70871 launches priced, 145 releases in 12 months
Related niches
pairs with Twin Stick Shooter- Roguelike + Twin Stick Shooter$2,02135 launches priced, 45 releases in 12 months
- Roguelite + Twin Stick Shooter$1,91144 launches priced, 66 releases in 12 months
- Twin Stick Shooter + Bullet Hell$1,69964 launches priced, 104 releases in 12 months
- Twin Stick Shooter + Action Roguelike$1,63752 launches priced, 90 releases in 12 months
- Shoot 'Em Up + Twin Stick Shooter$1,01145 launches priced, 67 releases in 12 months
- Twin Stick Shooter + Top-Down$1,01140 launches priced, 58 releases in 12 months
Verdicts
in developmentGMD Verdicts will be a written read on a niche, built from the same data and the published method on this site. Join the early list and we will email you when the first ones are ready. Nothing on this page is held back while you wait.