Tag pairdata 30 Sep 2026
Niches / Combat / Bullet Hell
Combat + Bullet Hell: a typical launch earns $354 in its first year
That is the median of 46 indie paid launches, 2024 Q4 to 2025 Q3. 3 of 97 matured launches earned $100k or more, against 3.4 expected for their price and launch quarter. Releases rose 43% on the year before: 73 against 51.
- One game dominates the figure
- Price
- $354 median of 46 launches
- Price vs a year earlier
- −43.5% four quarters on the four before
- Releases, 12 months
- 73 51 the year before
- Upcoming games
- 128 coming soon on Steam
- Games on the store
- 352 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 0.03% | 5 ranked of 128 upcoming gameswishlist rank 30 Sep 2026 | #6,944 of 7,193pairs on this board |
Launch successLaunches earning $100k or more, against the number expected for their price tier and launch quarter.
| 0.93xhits against expected | 0.65x to 1.60x | 97 launchesindie paid launches 31 Mar 2024 to 1 Apr 2026 (6 to 30 months old) | #3,224 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
- 97
- Hit rate
- 3.1%2.0% to 8.7%
- Expected rate
- 3.5%
- Against expected
- 0.93x0.65x to 1.60x
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
- $444
- Top tenth
- $19,284
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
- +43%
Parent tags
- CombatNot a genreA theme, mood, feature or presentation tag: never ranked as a market on its own, only inside pairs.
- Bullet HellGenre 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.
- VOID/BREAKER (opens the Steam store)2025 · 2,516 reviews, 91% positiveest. $1.5M
- Pass the Fear (opens the Steam store)2026 · 3,064 reviews, 79% positiveest. $727k
- Monsters are Coming! (opens the Steam store)2025 · 2,746 reviews, 79% positiveest. $473k
- Commando Collection (opens the Steam store)2024 · 1,421 reviews, 95% positiveest. $144k
- Twilight Survivors (opens the Steam store)2024 · 1,073 reviews, 89% positiveest. $65k
- Cyber Tower 2048 (opens the Steam store)2025 · 92 reviews, 88% positiveest. $56k
- Garlant: My Story (opens the Steam store)2024 · 235 reviews, 84% positiveest. $52k
- Touhou Gensokyo Odyssey (opens the Steam store)2024 · 359 reviews, 94% positiveest. $51k
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
More with Bullet Hell
pairs with Bullet Hell- Bullet Hell + Bullet Heaven$14,81455 launches priced, 178 releases in 12 months
- Bullet Hell + Female Protagonist$4,45135 launches priced, 39 releases in 12 months
- Difficult + Bullet Hell$2,12150 launches priced, 58 releases in 12 months
- Twin Stick Shooter + Bullet Hell$1,69964 launches priced, 104 releases in 12 months
- Hack and Slash + Bullet Hell$1,41563 launches priced, 86 releases in 12 months
- Bullet Hell + Procedural Generation$1,36634 launches priced, 34 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.