Tag pairdata 30 Sep 2026
Casual + Building: a typical launch earns $1,557 in its first year
That is the median of 147 indie paid launches, 2024 Q4 to 2025 Q3. 32 of 296 matured launches earned $100k or more, against 19.5 expected for their price and launch quarter. Releases rose 47% on the year before: 251 against 171.
- Price
- $1,557 median of 147 launches
- Price vs a year earlier
- −19.8% four quarters on the four before
- Releases, 12 months
- 251 171 the year before
- Upcoming games
- 686 coming soon on Steam
- Games on the store
- 1,788 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. | 0.86%share of upcoming wishlist heat | 0.47% to 1.37% | 71 ranked of 686 upcoming gameswishlist rank 30 Sep 2026 | #270 of 7,193pairs on this board |
| Launch successLaunches earning $100k or more, against the number expected for their price tier and launch quarter. | 1.55xhits against expected | 1.21x to 1.99x | 296 launchesindie paid launches 31 Mar 2024 to 1 Apr 2026 (6 to 30 months old) | #623 of 6,324pairs on this board |
| Fewer new releasesFewer launches relative to players. Historically this did not predict better launches. | −17%player demand against new supply, relative to Steam | −30% to −3% | 65 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025; releases 30 Sep 2025 to 30 Sep 2026 vs prior 12 months | #1,927 of 2,361pairs on this board |
| Rising demandGaining players faster than same-age games. Descriptive, not a launch signal. | −11%review growth against same-age games | −16% to −5% | 65 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025 | #1,349 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
- 296
- Hit rate
- 10.8%6.7% to 15.7%
- Expected rate
- 6.6%
- Against expected
- 1.55x1.21x to 1.99x
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
296 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
- $1,707
- Top tenth
- $112,768
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
- +47%
- Against Steam
- +7%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.
- House Flipper 2 (opens the Steam store)2023 · 16,619 reviews, 87% positiveest. $13M
- Tiny Glade (opens the Steam store)2024 · 22,804 reviews, 97% positiveest. $6.7M
- Starsand Island (opens the Steam store)2026 · 5,925 reviews, 76% positiveest. $4.1M
- Luma Island (opens the Steam store)2024 · 11,233 reviews, 84% positiveest. $4M
- Graveyard Keeper 2 (opens the Steam store)2026 · 5,767 reviews, 77% positiveest. $2.7M
- Aloft (opens the Steam store)2025 · 3,069 reviews, 82% positiveest. $1.6M
- Hozy (opens the Steam store)2026 · 4,256 reviews, 80% positiveest. $1.2M
- Star Birds (opens the Steam store)2025 · 3,005 reviews, 91% positiveest. $1.2M
More with Casual
pairs with Casual- Casual + Job Simulator$8,44230 launches priced, 54 releases in 12 months
- Casual + LGBTQ+$4,15442 launches priced, 95 releases in 12 months
- Casual + Romance$2,61486 launches priced, 137 releases in 12 months
- Casual + Economy$2,204112 launches priced, 302 releases in 12 months
- Casual + Online Co-Op$1,970104 launches priced, 272 releases in 12 months
- Casual + Capitalism$1,92351 launches priced, 130 releases in 12 months
More with Building
pairs with Building- Building + Cozy$14,48232 launches priced, 66 releases in 12 months
- Building + Life Sim$12,54245 launches priced, 64 releases in 12 months
- Building + Colony Sim$11,53947 launches priced, 44 releases in 12 months
- Building + Automation$8,28246 launches priced, 101 releases in 12 months
- Building + Economy$7,77095 launches priced, 122 releases in 12 months
- Building + Immersive Sim$7,64451 launches priced, 53 releases in 12 months
Verdicts
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