Tag pairdata 30 Sep 2026

Fast-Paced + Arcade: a typical launch earns $384 in its first year

That is the median of 36 indie paid launches, 2024 Q4 to 2025 Q3. 2 of 67 matured launches earned $100k or more, against 5.8 expected for their price and launch quarter. Releases rose 98% on the year before: 83 against 42.

One game dominates the figure

Price: $384
Price vs a year earlier: −24.0%
Releases, 12 months: 83
Upcoming games: 162
Games on the store: 555

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.

Fast-Paced + Arcade 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	0.09%share of upcoming wishlist heat	0.04% to 0.15%	11 ranked of 162 upcoming gameswishlist rank 30 Sep 2026	#5,779 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	0.57xhits against expected	0.42x to 1.00x	67 launchesindie paid launches 31 Mar 2024 to 1 Apr 2026 (6 to 30 months old)	#5,376 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: 2
Expected: 5.8

Launches: 67
Hit rate: 3.0%0.0% to 11.9%
Expected rate: 8.6%
Against expected: 0.57x0.42x to 1.00x

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

67 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: $506
Top tenth: $38,734

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: 83
Prior 12 months: 42

Change: +98%

Parent tags

Fast-PacedNot a genreA theme, mood, feature or presentation tag: never ranked as a market on its own, only inside pairs.
ArcadeGenre 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 Fast-Paced

pairs with Fast-Paced

Action + Fast-Paced$1,41563 launches priced, 118 releases in 12 months
Fast-Paced + Difficult$1,41537 launches priced, 62 releases in 12 months
Fast-Paced + Shooterno price44 releases in 12 months
Casual + Fast-Pacedno price41 releases in 12 months
Platformer + Fast-Pacedno price38 releases in 12 months
Fast-Paced + Score Attackno price35 releases in 12 months

Every pair with Fast-Paced

More with Arcade

pairs with Arcade

Co-op + Arcade$1,37646 launches priced, 69 releases in 12 months
Arcade + Twin Stick Shooter$1,01169 launches priced, 100 releases in 12 months
Arcade + Female Protagonist$96168 launches priced, 82 releases in 12 months
Arcade + Local Co-Op$96050 launches priced, 58 releases in 12 months
Arcade + Anime$91052 launches priced, 96 releases in 12 months
Arcade + Difficult$80679 launches priced, 145 releases in 12 months

Every pair with Arcade

Verdicts

in development

GMD Verdicts will be a written read on a niche, built from the same data and the published method on this site. Join the early list and we will email you when the first ones are ready. Nothing on this page is held back while you wait.