Tag pairdata 30 Sep 2026
Colorful + Emotional: a typical launch earns $2,003 in its first year
That is the median of 35 indie paid launches, 2024 Q4 to 2025 Q3. 7 of 65 matured launches earned $100k or more, against 7.5 expected for their price and launch quarter. Releases rose 5% on the year before: 44 against 42.
- One game dominates the figure
- Price
- $2,003 median of 35 launches
- Price vs a year earlier
- +154.5% four quarters on the four before
- Releases, 12 months
- 44 42 the year before
- Upcoming games
- 118 coming soon on Steam
- Games on the store
- 328 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. | 0.14%share of upcoming wishlist heat | 0.07% to 0.25% | 16 ranked of 118 upcoming gameswishlist rank 30 Sep 2026 | #1,351 of 7,193pairs on this board |
Launch successLaunches earning $100k or more, against the number expected for their price tier and launch quarter.
| 0.95xhits against expected | 0.65x to 1.44x | 65 launchesindie paid launches 31 Mar 2024 to 1 Apr 2026 (6 to 30 months old) | #3,111 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
- 65
- Hit rate
- 10.8%4.6% to 22.0%
- Expected rate
- 11.6%
- Against expected
- 0.95x0.65x to 1.44x
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
65 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
- $2,225
- Top tenth
- $99,963
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
- +5%
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.
- Neva (opens the Steam store)2024 · 9,380 reviews, 93% positiveest. $3.5M
- Goodnight Universe (opens the Steam store)2025 · 1,362 reviews, 96% positiveest. $551k
- DRACU-RIOT! (opens the Steam store)2026 · 734 reviews, 98% positiveest. $520k
- Mashiroiro Symphony HD -Love is Pure White- (opens the Steam store)2024 · 355 reviews, 87% positiveest. $287k
- Kind Words 2 (lofi city pop) (opens the Steam store)2024 · 634 reviews, 92% positiveest. $257k
- Love, Elections, and Chocolate (opens the Steam store)2025 · 282 reviews, 88% positiveest. $171k
- Kakenuke★Forward to Our Sparking Youth! (opens the Steam store)2024 · 188 reviews, 93% positiveest. $114k
- Amazing Grace -What color is your attribute?- (opens the Steam store)2024 · 111 reviews, 91% positiveest. $79k
More with Colorful
pairs with Colorful- Colorful + Cozy$3,63859 launches priced, 123 releases in 12 months
- Story Rich + Colorful$3,39962 launches priced, 88 releases in 12 months
- Visual Novel + Colorful$2,68975 launches priced, 112 releases in 12 months
- Colorful + Life Sim$1,85851 launches priced, 69 releases in 12 months
- Magic + Colorful$1,66832 launches priced, 38 releases in 12 months
- Sports + Colorful$1,21471 launches priced, 73 releases in 12 months
More with Emotional
pairs with Emotional- Emotional + Hand-drawn$3,75736 launches priced, 43 releases in 12 months
- Story Rich + Emotional$3,130121 launches priced, 200 releases in 12 months
- Emotional + Multiple Endings$3,03442 launches priced, 72 releases in 12 months
- Anime + Emotional$2,67157 launches priced, 94 releases in 12 months
- Cute + Emotional$2,67167 launches priced, 92 releases in 12 months
- Adventure + Emotional$2,488136 launches priced, 194 releases in 12 months
Verdicts
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