Tag pairdata 30 Sep 2026

First-Person + Investigation: a typical launch earns $1,011 in its first year

That is the median of 69 indie paid launches, 2024 Q4 to 2025 Q3. 10 of 144 matured launches earned $100k or more, against 7.9 expected for their price and launch quarter. Releases rose 27% on the year before: 99 against 78.

Price: $1,011
Price vs a year earlier: −32.0%
Releases, 12 months: 99
Upcoming games: 277
Games on the store: 724

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.

First-Person + Investigation 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.	0.20%share of upcoming wishlist heat	0.11% to 0.32%	25 ranked of 277 upcoming gameswishlist rank 30 Sep 2026	#1,049 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	0.83x to 1.76x	144 launchesindie paid launches 31 Mar 2024 to 1 Apr 2026 (6 to 30 months old)	#1,800 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	+14%player demand against new supply, relative to Steam	−11% to +48%	24 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025; releases 30 Sep 2025 to 30 Sep 2026 vs prior 12 months	#973 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	+5%review growth against same-age games	−3% to +16%	24 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025	#1,714 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: 10
Expected: 7.9

Launches: 144
Hit rate: 6.9%4.4% to 13.2%
Expected rate: 5.5%
Against expected: 1.19x0.83x to 1.76x

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

144 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: $12
Median: $1,121
Top tenth: $60,789

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: 99
Prior 12 months: 78

Change: +27%
Against Steam: −7%after Steam-wide growth, shrunk by 5 releases

Parent tags

First-PersonNot a genreA theme, mood, feature or presentation tag: never ranked as a market on its own, only inside pairs.
InvestigationGenre 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 First-Person

pairs with First-Person

Co-op + First-Person$11,81190 launches priced, 133 releases in 12 months
First-Person + Economy$9,96156 launches priced, 91 releases in 12 months
Building + First-Person$7,38241 launches priced, 60 releases in 12 months
First-Person + Management$7,08093 launches priced, 157 releases in 12 months
Crafting + First-Person$6,99934 launches priced, 64 releases in 12 months
First-Person + Online Co-Op$5,747102 launches priced, 173 releases in 12 months

Every pair with First-Person

More with Investigation

pairs with Investigation

Story Rich + Investigation$8,90370 launches priced, 96 releases in 12 months
Visual Novel + Investigation$4,88542 launches priced, 55 releases in 12 months
Point & Click + Investigation$4,85753 launches priced, 84 releases in 12 months
Detective + Investigation$3,96395 launches priced, 150 releases in 12 months
Mystery + Investigation$3,336112 launches priced, 171 releases in 12 months
Simulation + Investigation$2,89337 launches priced, 79 releases in 12 months

Every pair with Investigation

Verdicts

in development

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