Tag pairdata 30 Sep 2026
Combat + Colorful: a typical launch earns $405 in its first year
That is the median of 33 indie paid launches, 2024 Q4 to 2025 Q3. 3 of 70 matured launches earned $100k or more, against 5.0 expected for their price and launch quarter. Releases rose 24% on the year before: 56 against 45.
- Price
- $405 median of 33 launches
- Price vs a year earlier
- +25.3% four quarters on the four before
- Releases, 12 months
- 56 45 the year before
- Upcoming games
- 119 coming soon on Steam
- Games on the store
- 313 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 | 0.01% to 0.05% | 8 ranked of 119 upcoming gameswishlist rank 30 Sep 2026 | #6,779 of 7,193pairs on this board |
| Launch successLaunches earning $100k or more, against the number expected for their price tier and launch quarter. | 0.75xhits against expected | 0.52x to 1.27x | 70 launchesindie paid launches 31 Mar 2024 to 1 Apr 2026 (6 to 30 months old) | #4,432 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
- 70
- Hit rate
- 4.3%1.3% to 11.6%
- Expected rate
- 7.2%
- Against expected
- 0.75x0.52x to 1.27x
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
70 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
- $303
- Top tenth
- $31,569
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
- +24%
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.
- Duskfade (opens the Steam store)2026 · 832 reviews, 91% positiveest. $505k
- Epic Auto Towers (opens the Steam store)2024 · 769 reviews, 70% positiveest. $233k
- Echoes of Elysium (opens the Steam store)2026 · 510 reviews, 61% positiveest. $206k
- Advent NEON® (opens the Steam store)2025 · 300 reviews, 98% positiveest. $121k
- Bombun (opens the Steam store)2026 · 331 reviews, 95% positiveest. $67k
- Cyber Tower 2048 (opens the Steam store)2025 · 92 reviews, 88% positiveest. $56k
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Arcade: Wrath of the Mutants (opens the Steam store)2024 · 67 reviews, 59% positiveest. $41k
- RUSHING BEAT X: Return Of Brawl Brothers (opens the Steam store)2026 · 78 reviews, 76% positiveest. $32k
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 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 + Emotional$2,00335 launches priced, 44 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
Verdicts
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