Tag pairdata 30 Sep 2026

Exploration + Party-Based RPG: a typical launch earns $444 in its first year

That is the median of 44 indie paid launches, 2024 Q4 to 2025 Q3. 7 of 103 matured launches earned $100k or more, against 11.2 expected for their price and launch quarter. Releases rose 29% on the year before: 75 against 58.

Big publishers: over 85% from majors or $40+ games

Price: $444
Price vs a year earlier: −83.7%
Releases, 12 months: 75
Upcoming games: 277
Games on the store: 622

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.

Exploration + Party-Based RPG 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	0.86%share of upcoming wishlist heat	0.25% to 1.70%	36 ranked of 277 upcoming gameswishlist rank 30 Sep 2026	#4,350 of 7,193pairs on this board
Launch successLaunches earning $100k or more, against the number expected for their price tier and launch quarter. Big publishers: over 85% from majors or $40+ games	0.71xhits against expected	0.48x to 1.09x	103 launchesindie paid launches 31 Mar 2024 to 1 Apr 2026 (6 to 30 months old)	#4,703 of 6,324pairs on this board
Fewer new releasesFewer launches relative to players. Historically this did not predict better launches.	+16%player demand against new supply, relative to Steam	−11% to +53%	34 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025; releases 30 Sep 2025 to 30 Sep 2026 vs prior 12 months	#907 of 2,361pairs on this board
Rising demandGaining players faster than same-age games. Descriptive, not a launch signal.	+10%review growth against same-age games	0% to +21%	34 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025	#294 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: 7
Expected: 11.2

Launches: 103
Hit rate: 6.8%1.7% to 15.8%
Expected rate: 10.8%
Against expected: 0.71x0.48x to 1.09x

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

103 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: $364
Top tenth: $77,442

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: 75
Prior 12 months: 58

Change: +29%
Against Steam: −5%after Steam-wide growth, shrunk by 5 releases

Parent tags

ExplorationNot a genreA theme, mood, feature or presentation tag: never ranked as a market on its own, only inside pairs.
Party-Based RPGGenre 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 Exploration

pairs with Exploration

Exploration + Cozy$24,01549 launches priced, 99 releases in 12 months
Exploration + Open World Survival Craft$13,97334 launches priced, 26 releases in 12 months
Driving + Exploration$10,40830 launches priced, 42 releases in 12 months
Exploration + Multiplayer$8,00174 launches priced, 137 releases in 12 months
Exploration + Online Co-Op$7,08069 launches priced, 134 releases in 12 months
Co-op + Exploration$5,14762 launches priced, 101 releases in 12 months

Every pair with Exploration

More with Party-Based RPG

pairs with Party-Based RPG

Strategy + Party-Based RPG$3,88255 launches priced, 102 releases in 12 months
Dungeon Crawler + Party-Based RPG$2,26559 launches priced, 59 releases in 12 months
Turn-Based Combat + Party-Based RPG$2,14460 launches priced, 78 releases in 12 months
Party-Based RPG + Tactical RPG$2,02345 launches priced, 53 releases in 12 months
Story Rich + Party-Based RPG$1,92246 launches priced, 62 releases in 12 months
Adventure + Party-Based RPG$1,36558 launches priced, 91 releases in 12 months

Every pair with Party-Based RPG

Verdicts

in development

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