Tag pairdata 30 Sep 2026
Niches / Card Game / Trading Card Game
Card Game + Trading Card Game: a typical launch earns $278 in its first year
That is the median of 48 indie paid launches, 2024 Q4 to 2025 Q3. 1 of 97 matured launches earned $100k or more, against 4.6 expected for their price and launch quarter. Releases rose 67% on the year before: 125 against 75.
- One game dominates the figure
- Price
- $278 median of 48 launches
- Price vs a year earlier
- −50.0% four quarters on the four before
- Releases, 12 months
- 125 75 the year before
- Upcoming games
- 330 coming soon on Steam
- Games on the store
- 737 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. | 0.03%share of upcoming wishlist heat | 0.02% to 0.04% | 9 ranked of 330 upcoming gameswishlist rank 30 Sep 2026 | #3,102 of 7,193pairs on this board |
Launch successLaunches earning $100k or more, against the number expected for their price tier and launch quarter.
| 0.53xhits against expected | 0.43x to 0.97x | 97 launchesindie paid launches 31 Mar 2024 to 1 Apr 2026 (6 to 30 months old) | #5,512 of 6,324pairs on this board |
Fewer new releasesFewer launches relative to players. Historically this did not predict better launches.
| −27%player demand against new supply, relative to Steam | −44% to −3% | 15 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025; releases 30 Sep 2025 to 30 Sep 2026 vs prior 12 months | #2,128 of 2,361pairs on this board |
Rising demandGaining players faster than same-age games. Descriptive, not a launch signal.
| −13%review growth against same-age games | −28% to 0% | 15 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025 | #2,442 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
- 97
- Hit rate
- 1.0%0.0% to 4.8%
- Expected rate
- 4.7%
- Against expected
- 0.53x0.43x to 0.97x
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
97 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
- $6,635
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
- +67%
- Against Steam
- +20%after Steam-wide growth, shrunk by 5 releases
Parent tags
- Card GameGenre pageRanked on every board, with its best pairs.
- Trading Card GameGenre 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.
- TCG Card Shop Simulator (opens the Steam store)2024 · 47,849 reviews, 96% positiveest. $19M
- RUNGORE (opens the Steam store)2023 · 993 reviews, 85% positiveest. $301k
- Heroes Wanted (opens the Steam store)2023 · 533 reviews, 81% positiveest. $216k
- Zero Division (opens the Steam store)2024 · 273 reviews, 86% positiveest. $72k
- Culdcept The First (opens the Steam store)2026 · 96 reviews, 73% positiveest. $58k
- TCG Multiplayer Card Shop Simulator (opens the Steam store)2025 · 200 reviews, 55% positiveest. $53k
- Fairtravel Battle CCG (opens the Steam store)2026 · 52 reviews, 98% positiveest. $16k
- Trading Card Inspector (opens the Steam store)2026 · 89 reviews, 96% positiveest. $13k
More with Card Game
pairs with Card Game- Card Game + Roguelike Deckbuilder$6,32394 launches priced, 164 releases in 12 months
- Card Game + Auto Battler$2,67141 launches priced, 78 releases in 12 months
- Card Game + Roguelite$2,214162 launches priced, 351 releases in 12 months
- Card Game + Dungeon Crawler$1,96232 launches priced, 43 releases in 12 months
- Card Game + Roguelike$1,821201 launches priced, 431 releases in 12 months
- Card Game + Turn-Based$1,61733 launches priced, 43 releases in 12 months
Related niches
pairs with Trading Card Game- Trading Card Game + Card Battler$40436 launches priced, 92 releases in 12 months
- Strategy + Trading Card Game$37932 launches priced, 115 releases in 12 months
- Casual + Trading Card Gameno price57 releases in 12 months
- 2D + Trading Card Gameno price56 releases in 12 months
- Trading Card Game + Turn-Based Tacticsno price56 releases in 12 months
- Turn-Based Strategy + Trading Card Gameno price48 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.