Tag pairdata 30 Sep 2026

Dark + Female Protagonist: a typical launch earns $3,048 in its first year

That is the median of 31 indie paid launches, 2024 Q4 to 2025 Q3. 5 of 57 matured launches earned $100k or more, against 5.5 expected for their price and launch quarter. Releases fell 11% on the year before: 31 against 35.

Price: $3,048
Price vs a year earlier: +309.2%
Releases, 12 months: 31
Upcoming games: 114
Games on the store: 306

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.

Dark + Female Protagonist 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.	0.09%share of upcoming wishlist heat	0.07% to 0.12%	18 ranked of 114 upcoming gameswishlist rank 30 Sep 2026	#1,812 of 7,193pairs on this board
Launch successLaunches earning $100k or more, against the number expected for their price tier and launch quarter.	0.94xhits against expected	0.64x to 1.48x	57 launchesindie paid launches 31 Mar 2024 to 1 Apr 2026 (6 to 30 months old)	#3,187 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	+55%player demand against new supply, relative to Steam	+8% to +122%	18 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025; releases 30 Sep 2025 to 30 Sep 2026 vs prior 12 months	#143 of 2,361pairs on this board
Rising demandGaining players faster than same-age games. Descriptive, not a launch signal. One game dominates the figure Listed after unflagged rows on this board	+3%review growth against same-age games	−6% to +11%	18 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025	#1,834 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: 5
Expected: 5.5

Launches: 57
Hit rate: 8.8%3.2% to 16.8%
Expected rate: 9.7%
Against expected: 0.94x0.64x to 1.48x

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

57 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: $226
Median: $3,638
Top tenth: $75,133

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: 31
Prior 12 months: 35

Change: −11%
Against Steam: −34%after Steam-wide growth, shrunk by 5 releases

Parent tags

DarkNot a genreA theme, mood, feature or presentation tag: never ranked as a market on its own, only inside pairs.
Female ProtagonistNot a genreA theme, mood, feature or presentation tag: never ranked as a market on its own, only inside 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 Dark

pairs with Dark

RPG + Dark$3,32642 launches priced, 68 releases in 12 months
Dark + Supernatural$2,48942 launches priced, 63 releases in 12 months
Story Rich + Dark$2,427120 launches priced, 161 releases in 12 months
Dark + Choices Matter$2,30338 launches priced, 62 releases in 12 months
Visual Novel + Dark$1,85867 launches priced, 112 releases in 12 months
Surreal + Dark$1,69738 launches priced, 67 releases in 12 months

Every pair with Dark

More with Female Protagonist

pairs with Female Protagonist

Hack and Slash + Female Protagonist$10,32730 launches priced, 52 releases in 12 months
JRPG + Female Protagonist$6,70840 launches priced, 47 releases in 12 months
Female Protagonist + Action Roguelike$6,55637 launches priced, 55 releases in 12 months
Mystery + Female Protagonist$5,30753 launches priced, 76 releases in 12 months
Female Protagonist + LGBTQ+$4,85853 launches priced, 86 releases in 12 months
Bullet Hell + Female Protagonist$4,45135 launches priced, 39 releases in 12 months

Every pair with Female Protagonist

Verdicts

in development

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