Tag pairdata 30 Sep 2026
Niches / Crafting / Base Building
Crafting + Base Building: a typical launch earns $8,901 in its first year
That is the median of 79 indie paid launches, 2024 Q4 to 2025 Q3. 43 of 147 matured launches earned $100k or more, against 22.0 expected for their price and launch quarter. Releases rose 45% on the year before: 125 against 86.
- Price
- $8,901 median of 79 launches
- Price vs a year earlier
- −65.9% four quarters on the four before
- Releases, 12 months
- 125 86 the year before
- Upcoming games
- 576 coming soon on Steam
- Games on the store
- 1,084 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. | 3.21%share of upcoming wishlist heat | 2.11% to 4.75% | 126 ranked of 576 upcoming gameswishlist rank 30 Sep 2026 | #59 of 7,193pairs on this board |
| Launch successLaunches earning $100k or more, against the number expected for their price tier and launch quarter. | 1.84xhits against expected | 1.50x to 2.22x | 147 launchesindie paid launches 31 Mar 2024 to 1 Apr 2026 (6 to 30 months old) | #262 of 6,324pairs on this board |
| Fewer new releasesFewer launches relative to players. Historically this did not predict better launches. | −20%player demand against new supply, relative to Steam | −35% to 0% | 82 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025; releases 30 Sep 2025 to 30 Sep 2026 vs prior 12 months | #1,995 of 2,361pairs on this board |
| Rising demandGaining players faster than same-age games. Descriptive, not a launch signal. | −16%review growth against same-age games | −24% to −8% | 82 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025 | #1,487 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 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
- 147
- Hit rate
- 29.3%21.3% to 38.9%
- Expected rate
- 14.9%
- Against expected
- 1.84x1.50x to 2.22x
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
147 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
- $418
- Median
- $18,453
- Top tenth
- $1,112,039
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
- +45%
- Against Steam
- +5%after Steam-wide growth, shrunk by 5 releases
Parent tags
- CraftingNot a genreA theme, mood, feature or presentation tag: never ranked as a market on its own, only inside pairs.
- Base BuildingNot a genreA theme, mood, feature or presentation tag: never ranked as a market on its own, only inside 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.
Schedule I (opens the Steam store)2025 · 290,347 reviews, 97% positiveest. $117M
Enshrouded (opens the Steam store)2024 · 93,740 reviews, 85% positiveest. $73M
Abiotic Factor (opens the Steam store)2024 · 42,311 reviews, 95% positiveest. $29M
RuneScape: Dragonwilds (opens the Steam store)2026 · 30,187 reviews, 80% positiveest. $18M
Soulmask (opens the Steam store)2026 · 18,501 reviews, 76% positiveest. $10M
The Alters (opens the Steam store)2025 · 15,441 reviews, 90% positiveest. $10M
The Last Caretaker (opens the Steam store)2025 · 13,344 reviews, 86% positiveest. $9.4M
Nightingale (opens the Steam store)2024 · 15,338 reviews, 66% positiveest. $9M
More with Crafting
pairs with Crafting- Crafting + Open World Survival Craft$26,87533 launches priced, 44 releases in 12 months
- Crafting + Resource Management$9,79344 launches priced, 96 releases in 12 months
- Crafting + Life Sim$8,45137 launches priced, 65 releases in 12 months
- Open World + Crafting$7,48760 launches priced, 105 releases in 12 months
- Crafting + First-Person$6,99934 launches priced, 64 releases in 12 months
- Crafting + Management$6,87873 launches priced, 136 releases in 12 months
More with Base Building
pairs with Base Building- Base Building + Colony Sim$22,86553 launches priced, 64 releases in 12 months
- RPG + Base Building$17,28632 launches priced, 49 releases in 12 months
- Base Building + Automation$14,08239 launches priced, 83 releases in 12 months
- RTS + Base Building$13,91454 launches priced, 61 releases in 12 months
- Base Building + Management$12,38472 launches priced, 109 releases in 12 months
- City Builder + Base Building$11,53773 launches priced, 109 releases in 12 months
Verdicts
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