Tag pairdata 30 Sep 2026

Economy + Base Building: a typical launch earns $3,035 in its first year

That is the median of 33 indie paid launches, 2024 Q4 to 2025 Q3. 8 of 54 matured launches earned $100k or more, against 6.3 expected for their price and launch quarter. Releases rose 19% on the year before: 44 against 37.

Price: $3,035
Price vs a year earlier: n/a
Releases, 12 months: 44
Upcoming games: 169
Games on the store: 355

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.

Economy + Base Building 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.	0.19%share of upcoming wishlist heat	0.10% to 0.29%	24 ranked of 169 upcoming gameswishlist rank 30 Sep 2026	#1,092 of 7,193pairs on this board
Launch successLaunches earning $100k or more, against the number expected for their price tier and launch quarter.	1.19xhits against expected	0.82x to 1.75x	54 launchesindie paid launches 31 Mar 2024 to 1 Apr 2026 (6 to 30 months old)	#1,830 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	+11%player demand against new supply, relative to Steam	−19% to +51%	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	#1,061 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	−4%review growth against same-age games	−13% to +7%	18 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025	#2,267 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: 8
Expected: 6.3

Launches: 54
Hit rate: 14.8%7.1% to 28.7%
Expected rate: 11.6%
Against expected: 1.19x0.82x to 1.75x

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

54 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: $376
Median: $4,764
Top tenth: $168,963

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: 44
Prior 12 months: 37

Change: +19%
Against Steam: −14%after Steam-wide growth, shrunk by 5 releases

Parent tags

EconomyNot 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 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 Economy

pairs with Economy

Trading + Economy$24,39844 launches priced, 105 releases in 12 months
Sandbox + Economy$15,26966 launches priced, 136 releases in 12 months
Economy + Shop Keeper$15,12233 launches priced, 133 releases in 12 months
Economy + Life Sim$15,00083 launches priced, 128 releases in 12 months
Economy + Immersive Sim$14,95288 launches priced, 116 releases in 12 months
Realistic + Economy$10,95531 launches priced, 37 releases in 12 months

Every pair with Economy

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

Every pair with Base Building

Verdicts

in development

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