Tag pairdata 30 Sep 2026

Difficult + Linear: a typical launch earns $242 in its first year

That is the median of 33 indie paid launches, 2024 Q4 to 2025 Q3. 0 of 53 matured launches earned $100k or more, against 1.3 expected for their price and launch quarter. Releases fell 44% on the year before: 20 against 36.

Price: $242
Price vs a year earlier: −50.1%
Releases, 12 months: 20
Upcoming games: 42
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 + Linear 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.	Below this board's minimum sample, so not ranked. Needs 5 or more wishlist-ranked upcoming games.
Launch successLaunches earning $100k or more, against the number expected for their price tier and launch quarter.	0.69xhits against expected	0.69x to 1.29x	53 launchesindie paid launches 31 Mar 2024 to 1 Apr 2026 (6 to 30 months old)	#4,781 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: 0
Expected: 1.3

Launches: 53
Hit rate: 0.0%0.0% to 0.0%
Expected rate: 2.5%
Against expected: 0.69x0.69x to 1.29x

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

53 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: $282
Top tenth: $3,528

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: 20
Prior 12 months: 36

Change: −44%

Parent tags

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

pairs with Linear

Walking Simulator + Linear$1,56566 launches priced, 92 releases in 12 months
Psychological Horror + Linear$1,11182 launches priced, 104 releases in 12 months
Story Rich + Linear$91095 launches priced, 129 releases in 12 months
Visual Novel + Linear$84831 launches priced, 69 releases in 12 months
Horror + Linear$808121 launches priced, 153 releases in 12 months
Female Protagonist + Linear$79940 launches priced, 57 releases in 12 months

Every pair with Linear

Verdicts

in development

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