Tag pairdata 30 Sep 2026
Niches / Dark / Walking Simulator
Dark + Walking Simulator: a typical launch earns $1,454 in its first year
That is the median of 114 indie paid launches, 2024 Q4 to 2025 Q3. 10 of 229 matured launches earned $100k or more, against 4.7 expected for their price and launch quarter. Releases rose 23% on the year before: 160 against 130.
- Price
- $1,454 median of 114 launches
- Price vs a year earlier
- −23.0% four quarters on the four before
- Releases, 12 months
- 160 130 the year before
- Upcoming games
- 250 coming soon on Steam
- Games on the store
- 760 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. | 0.10%share of upcoming wishlist heat | 0.07% to 0.14% | 19 ranked of 250 upcoming gameswishlist rank 30 Sep 2026 | #1,712 of 7,193pairs on this board |
| Launch successLaunches earning $100k or more, against the number expected for their price tier and launch quarter. | 1.69xhits against expected | 1.17x to 2.53x | 229 launchesindie paid launches 31 Mar 2024 to 1 Apr 2026 (6 to 30 months old) | #399 of 6,324pairs on this board |
Fewer new releasesFewer launches relative to players. Historically this did not predict better launches.
| +9%player demand against new supply, relative to Steam | −9% to +28% | 43 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025; releases 30 Sep 2025 to 30 Sep 2026 vs prior 12 months | #1,160 of 2,361pairs on this board |
Rising demandGaining players faster than same-age games. Descriptive, not a launch signal.
| −2%review growth against same-age games | −9% to +6% | 43 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025 | #2,107 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
- 229
- Hit rate
- 4.4%2.5% to 7.5%
- Expected rate
- 2.1%
- Against expected
- 1.69x1.17x to 2.53x
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
229 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
- $61
- Median
- $1,416
- Top tenth
- $24,104
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
- +23%
- Against Steam
- −10%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.
- Walking SimulatorGenre 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.
- Mouthwashing (opens the Steam store)2024 · 34,448 reviews, 95% positiveest. $9M
- Still Wakes the Deep (opens the Steam store)2024 · 11,274 reviews, 87% positiveest. $7.8M
- Luto (opens the Steam store)2025 · 1,231 reviews, 85% positiveest. $498k
- Amenti (opens the Steam store)2025 · 2,195 reviews, 80% positiveest. $311k
- REVEIL (opens the Steam store)2024 · 755 reviews, 86% positiveest. $306k
- THRESHOLD (opens the Steam store)2024 · 1,105 reviews, 84% positiveest. $224k
- Bad Cheese (opens the Steam store)2025 · 610 reviews, 71% positiveest. $160k
- Bad Parenting 1: Mr. Red Face (opens the Steam store)2024 · 2,949 reviews, 85% positiveest. $119k
More with Dark
pairs with Dark- RPG + Dark$3,32642 launches priced, 68 releases in 12 months
- Dark + Female Protagonist$3,04831 launches priced, 31 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
More with Walking Simulator
pairs with Walking Simulator- Thriller + Walking Simulator$4,18364 launches priced, 94 releases in 12 months
- Cinematic + Walking Simulator$3,57532 launches priced, 57 releases in 12 months
- Walking Simulator + Supernatural$3,23435 launches priced, 51 releases in 12 months
- Story Rich + Walking Simulator$2,627119 launches priced, 186 releases in 12 months
- Realistic + Walking Simulator$2,122146 launches priced, 187 releases in 12 months
- Mystery + Walking Simulator$2,02077 launches priced, 151 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.