Tag pairdata 30 Sep 2026

Combat + Action-Adventure: a typical launch earns $405 in its first year

That is the median of 91 indie paid launches, 2024 Q4 to 2025 Q3. 17 of 185 matured launches earned $100k or more, against 18.5 expected for their price and launch quarter. Releases rose 24% on the year before: 149 against 120.

Big publishers: over 85% from majors or $40+ games
China market: over 35% of reviews are Chinese
One game dominates the figure

Price: $405
Price vs a year earlier: −39.2%
Releases, 12 months: 149
Upcoming games: 521
Games on the store: 1,096

Boards

as of 30 Sep 2026

Where this pair stands on each board of the front page. Every value carries its 90% interval and its sample.

Combat + Action-Adventure on each board
Board	Value	Interval	Sample	Standing
Most anticipatedShare of all upcoming wishlist heat on Steam, with the number of upcoming games beside it.	0.72%share of upcoming wishlist heat	0.46% to 1.23%	79 ranked of 521 upcoming gameswishlist rank 30 Sep 2026	#333 of 7,193pairs on this board
Launch successLaunches earning $100k or more, against the number expected for their price tier and launch quarter. China market: over 35% of reviews are Chinese One game dominates the figure Big publishers: over 85% from majors or $40+ games Listed after unflagged rows on this board	0.93xhits against expected	0.68x to 1.28x	185 launchesindie paid launches 31 Mar 2024 to 1 Apr 2026 (6 to 30 months old)	#6,117 of 6,324pairs on this board
Fewer new releasesFewer launches relative to players. Historically this did not predict better launches. One game dominates the figure China market: over 35% of reviews are Chinese	+14%player demand against new supply, relative to Steam	−12% to +39%	37 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025; releases 30 Sep 2025 to 30 Sep 2026 vs prior 12 months	#972 of 2,361pairs on this board
Rising demandGaining players faster than same-age games. Descriptive, not a launch signal. One game dominates the figure China market: over 35% of reviews are Chinese Listed after unflagged rows on this board	+3%review growth against same-age games	−9% to +19%	37 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025	#1,802 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 old

Matured indie paid launches that earned an estimated $100k or more, against the number expected for games at the same price tier and launch quarter.

Hits: 17
Expected: 18.5

Launches: 185
Hit rate: 9.2%6.4% to 17.4%
Expected rate: 10.0%
Against expected: 0.93x0.68x to 1.28x

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

185 launches

Estimated 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: $466
Top tenth: $84,443

Estimated from Steam review counts. Lifetime to date, so it differs from the first-year price above.

Supply

raw release counts

Games released with both tags, last 12 months against the 12 before.

Last 12 months: 149
Prior 12 months: 120

Change: +24%
Against Steam: −9%after Steam-wide growth, shrunk by 5 releases

Parent tags

CombatNot a genreA theme, mood, feature or presentation tag: never ranked as a market on its own, only inside pairs.
Action-AdventureGenre pageRanked on every board, with its best pairs.

Comparable games

8 indie titles

The 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.

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

Every pair with Combat

More with Action-Adventure

pairs with Action-Adventure

Action-Adventure + VR$6,75746 launches priced, 38 releases in 12 months
Co-op + Action-Adventure$4,36354 launches priced, 57 releases in 12 months
Online Co-Op + Action-Adventure$4,12753 launches priced, 80 releases in 12 months
Action-Adventure + Dark Fantasy$3,09649 launches priced, 105 releases in 12 months
Metroidvania + Action-Adventure$2,86390 launches priced, 117 releases in 12 months
Action-Adventure + Gore$2,02430 launches priced, 18 releases in 12 months

Every pair with Action-Adventure

Verdicts

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