Tag pairdata 30 Sep 2026

Economy + Idler: a typical launch earns $808 in its first year

That is the median of 45 indie paid launches, 2024 Q4 to 2025 Q3. 9 of 101 matured launches earned $100k or more, against 2.1 expected for their price and launch quarter. Releases rose 224% on the year before: 188 against 58.

Price: $808
Price vs a year earlier: −76.6%
Releases, 12 months: 188
Upcoming games: 262
Games on the store: 572

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 + Idler 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.	0.07%share of upcoming wishlist heat	0.05% to 0.09%	9 ranked of 262 upcoming gameswishlist rank 30 Sep 2026	#2,186 of 7,193pairs on this board
Launch successLaunches earning $100k or more, against the number expected for their price tier and launch quarter.	2.35xhits against expected	1.63x to 3.50x	101 launchesindie paid launches 31 Mar 2024 to 1 Apr 2026 (6 to 30 months old)	#58 of 6,324pairs on this board
Fewer new releasesFewer launches relative to players. Historically this did not predict better launches.	−61%player demand against new supply, relative to Steam	−69% to −51%	23 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025; releases 30 Sep 2025 to 30 Sep 2026 vs prior 12 months	#2,346 of 2,361pairs on this board
Rising demandGaining players faster than same-age games. Descriptive, not a launch signal.	−12%review growth against same-age games	−19% to −3%	23 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025	#1,376 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: 9
Expected: 2.1

Launches: 101
Hit rate: 8.9%4.1% to 16.2%
Expected rate: 2.1%
Against expected: 2.35x1.63x to 3.50x

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

101 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: $101
Median: $1,212
Top tenth: $67,078

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: 188
Prior 12 months: 58

Change: +224%
Against Steam: +126%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.
IdlerGenre pageRanked on every board, with its best 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 Idler

pairs with Idler

Cozy + Idler$3,51835 launches priced, 157 releases in 12 months
Collectathon + Idler$1,77756 launches priced, 144 releases in 12 months
Nature + Idler$1,66633 launches priced, 83 releases in 12 months
Management + Idler$1,48690 launches priced, 270 releases in 12 months
Idler + Creature Collector$1,45476 launches priced, 140 releases in 12 months
Building + Idler$1,44436 launches priced, 59 releases in 12 months

Every pair with Idler

Verdicts

in development

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