Tag pairdata 30 Sep 2026

Difficult + Dark: 25 releases in the last 12 months

There is no price yet: it needs 30 or more indie paid launches in the last four complete quarters. 1 of 37 matured launches earned $100k or more, against 1.9 expected for their price and launch quarter. Releases rose 47% on the year before: 25 against 17.

One game dominates the figure

Price: n/a
Price vs a year earlier: n/a
Releases, 12 months: 25
Upcoming games: 47
Games on the store: 188

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.

Difficult + Dark 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. One game dominates the figure Listed after unflagged rows on this board	0.02%share of upcoming wishlist heat	0.01% to 0.04%	5 ranked of 47 upcoming gameswishlist rank 30 Sep 2026	#6,901 of 7,193pairs on this board
Launch successLaunches earning $100k or more, against the number expected for their price tier and launch quarter. One game dominates the figure	0.82xhits against expected	0.66x to 1.46x	37 launchesindie paid launches 31 Mar 2024 to 1 Apr 2026 (6 to 30 months old)	#3,988 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 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: 1
Expected: 1.9

Launches: 37
Hit rate: 2.7%0.0% to 9.4%
Expected rate: 5.1%
Against expected: 0.82x0.66x to 1.46x

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

37 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: $0
Median: $806
Top tenth: $23,702

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: 25
Prior 12 months: 17

Change: +47%

Parent tags

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

pairs with Difficult

RPG + Difficult$8,09240 launches priced, 39 releases in 12 months
Roguelike + Difficult$3,64173 launches priced, 93 releases in 12 months
Roguelite + Difficult$3,03570 launches priced, 97 releases in 12 months
Difficult + Action Roguelike$2,42672 launches priced, 73 releases in 12 months
Difficult + Souls-like$2,12341 launches priced, 39 releases in 12 months
Difficult + Bullet Hell$2,12150 launches priced, 58 releases in 12 months

Every pair with Difficult

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

Every pair with Dark

Verdicts

in development

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