Tag pairdata 30 Sep 2026
Combat + Top-Down: a typical launch earns $202 in its first year
That is the median of 54 indie paid launches, 2024 Q4 to 2025 Q3. 3 of 115 matured launches earned $100k or more, against 4.6 expected for their price and launch quarter. Releases rose 18% on the year before: 79 against 67.
- Price
- $202 median of 54 launches
- Price vs a year earlier
- −0.1% four quarters on the four before
- Releases, 12 months
- 79 67 the year before
- Upcoming games
- 205 coming soon on Steam
- Games on the store
- 531 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 0.04% | 8 ranked of 205 upcoming gameswishlist rank 30 Sep 2026 | #6,873 of 7,193pairs on this board |
| Launch successLaunches earning $100k or more, against the number expected for their price tier and launch quarter. | 0.78xhits against expected | 0.55x to 1.35x | 115 launchesindie paid launches 31 Mar 2024 to 1 Apr 2026 (6 to 30 months old) | #4,206 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
- 115
- Hit rate
- 2.6%0.0% to 6.3%
- Expected rate
- 4.0%
- Against expected
- 0.78x0.55x to 1.35x
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
115 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
- $202
- Top tenth
- $10,093
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
- +18%
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.
- Monsters are Coming! (opens the Steam store)2025 · 2,746 reviews, 79% positiveest. $473k
- Jackal (opens the Steam store)2026 · 607 reviews, 88% positiveest. $184k
- Raw Metal (opens the Steam store)2024 · 454 reviews, 88% positiveest. $184k
- Tombwater (opens the Steam store)2026 · 286 reviews, 92% positiveest. $145k
- Lunarium (opens the Steam store)2026 · 577 reviews, 87% positiveest. $116k
- Chromosome Evil 2 (opens the Steam store)2023 · 252 reviews, 88% positiveest. $102k
- Lysfanga: The Time Shift Warrior (opens the Steam store)2024 · 155 reviews, 73% positiveest. $63k
- SNAKE GAME ULTRA CORE (opens the Steam store)2025 · 89 reviews, 88% positiveest. $54k
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 Top-Down
pairs with Top-Down- Wargame + Top-Down$1,70031 launches priced, 51 releases in 12 months
- City Builder + Top-Down$1,55732 launches priced, 37 releases in 12 months
- Top-Down + Female Protagonist$1,09231 launches priced, 50 releases in 12 months
- Twin Stick Shooter + Top-Down$1,01140 launches priced, 58 releases in 12 months
- Roguelike + Top-Down$707143 launches priced, 271 releases in 12 months
- RTS + Top-Down$68543 launches priced, 75 releases in 12 months
Verdicts
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