Tag pairdata 30 Sep 2026
Niches / Horror / Choose Your Own Adventure
Horror + Choose Your Own Adventure: a typical launch earns $1,081 in its first year
That is the median of 64 indie paid launches, 2024 Q4 to 2025 Q3. 8 of 135 matured launches earned $100k or more, against 7.8 expected for their price and launch quarter. Releases rose 26% on the year before: 101 against 80.
- Price
- $1,081 median of 64 launches
- Price vs a year earlier
- −58.2% four quarters on the four before
- Releases, 12 months
- 101 80 the year before
- Upcoming games
- 192 coming soon on Steam
- Games on the store
- 593 carrying both tags
Boards
as of 30 Sep 2026Where this pair stands on each board of the front page. Every value carries its 90% interval and its sample.
| Board | Value | Interval | Sample | Standing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Most anticipatedShare of all upcoming wishlist heat on Steam, with the number of upcoming games beside it.
| 0.22%share of upcoming wishlist heat | 0.08% to 0.35% | 22 ranked of 192 upcoming gameswishlist rank 30 Sep 2026 | #4,996 of 7,193pairs on this board |
| Launch successLaunches earning $100k or more, against the number expected for their price tier and launch quarter. | 1.02xhits against expected | 0.70x to 1.56x | 135 launchesindie paid launches 31 Mar 2024 to 1 Apr 2026 (6 to 30 months old) | #2,651 of 6,324pairs on this board |
| Fewer new releasesFewer launches relative to players. Historically this did not predict better launches. | +19%player demand against new supply, relative to Steam | −7% to +47% | 39 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025; releases 30 Sep 2025 to 30 Sep 2026 vs prior 12 months | #774 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 | −4% to +22% | 39 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025 | #304 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 oldMatured indie paid launches that earned an estimated $100k or more, against the number expected for games at the same price tier and launch quarter.
- Launches
- 135
- Hit rate
- 5.9%2.2% to 8.7%
- Expected rate
- 5.8%
- Against expected
- 1.02x0.70x to 1.56x
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
135 launchesEstimated 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
- $1,092
- Top tenth
- $25,200
Estimated from Steam review counts. Lifetime to date, so it differs from the first-year price above.
Supply
raw release countsGames released with both tags, last 12 months against the 12 before.
- Change
- +26%
- Against Steam
- −8%after Steam-wide growth, shrunk by 5 releases
Parent tags
- HorrorGenre pageRanked on every board, with its best pairs.
- Choose Your Own AdventureGenre pageRanked on every board, with its best pairs.
Comparable games
8 indie titlesThe 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.
- Slay the Princess — The Pristine Cut (opens the Steam store)2023 · 32,257 reviews, 96% positiveest. $11M
- The Casting of Frank Stone™ (opens the Steam store)2024 · 5,599 reviews, 62% positiveest. $3.3M
- Homicipher (opens the Steam store)2024 · 7,840 reviews, 96% positiveest. $2M
- Five Hearts Under One Roof season2 (opens the Steam store)2025 · 2,157 reviews, 96% positiveest. $938k
- Cabernet (opens the Steam store)2025 · 2,046 reviews, 94% positiveest. $791k
- Kugayama Shiori's Death Diary (opens the Steam store)2026 · 996 reviews, 95% positiveest. $504k
- Amanda the Adventurer 2 (opens the Steam store)2024 · 1,443 reviews, 83% positiveest. $292k
- Backrooms Rec. (opens the Steam store)2024 · 1,835 reviews, 68% positiveest. $260k
More with Horror
pairs with Horror- Horror + Co-op$7,08089 launches priced, 127 releases in 12 months
- Horror + Online Co-Op$5,819120 launches priced, 169 releases in 12 months
- Horror + Multiplayer$5,680106 launches priced, 172 releases in 12 months
- Horror + Lovecraftian$3,41850 launches priced, 72 releases in 12 months
- Horror + Roguelike$3,33937 launches priced, 73 releases in 12 months
- Horror + Text-Based$2,83130 launches priced, 65 releases in 12 months
Related niches
pairs with Choose Your Own Adventure- Choose Your Own Adventure + Romance$3,13658 launches priced, 86 releases in 12 months
- Choose Your Own Adventure + Dating Sim$3,11675 launches priced, 85 releases in 12 months
- Choose Your Own Adventure + Character Customization$2,97334 launches priced, 26 releases in 12 months
- Choose Your Own Adventure + Mystery$2,91649 launches priced, 75 releases in 12 months
- Psychological Horror + Choose Your Own Adventure$2,54534 launches priced, 83 releases in 12 months
- Story Rich + Choose Your Own Adventure$2,180127 launches priced, 197 releases in 12 months
Verdicts
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