Tag pairdata 30 Sep 2026

Horror + Story Rich: a typical launch earns $2,424 in its first year

That is the median of 316 indie paid launches, 2024 Q4 to 2025 Q3. 44 of 603 matured launches earned $100k or more, against 30.9 expected for their price and launch quarter. Releases rose 19% on the year before: 436 against 365.

Price: $2,424
Price vs a year earlier: +13.8%
Releases, 12 months: 436
Upcoming games: 1,249
Games on the store: 3,089

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.

Horror + Story Rich 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.	1.20%share of upcoming wishlist heat	0.86% to 1.58%	164 ranked of 1,249 upcoming gameswishlist rank 30 Sep 2026	#195 of 7,193pairs on this board
Launch successLaunches earning $100k or more, against the number expected for their price tier and launch quarter.	1.39xhits against expected	1.11x to 1.73x	603 launchesindie paid launches 31 Mar 2024 to 1 Apr 2026 (6 to 30 months old)	#1,035 of 6,324pairs on this board
Fewer new releasesFewer launches relative to players. Historically this did not predict better launches.	+22%player demand against new supply, relative to Steam	+8% to +38%	187 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025; releases 30 Sep 2025 to 30 Sep 2026 vs prior 12 months	#709 of 2,361pairs on this board
Rising demandGaining players faster than same-age games. Descriptive, not a launch signal.	+7%review growth against same-age games	0% to +15%	187 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025	#447 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: 44
Expected: 30.9

Launches: 603
Hit rate: 7.3%5.0% to 10.2%
Expected rate: 5.1%
Against expected: 1.39x1.11x to 1.73x

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

603 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: $121
Median: $2,180
Top tenth: $54,420

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: 436
Prior 12 months: 365

Change: +19%
Against Steam: −12%after Steam-wide growth, shrunk by 5 releases

Parent tags

HorrorGenre pageRanked on every board, with its best pairs.
Story RichNot a genreA theme, mood, feature or presentation tag: never ranked as a market on its own, only inside 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 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

Every pair with Horror

More with Story Rich

pairs with Story Rich

Story Rich + Narrative$13,10440 launches priced, 59 releases in 12 months
Story Rich + Historical$9,68533 launches priced, 53 releases in 12 months
Story Rich + Investigation$8,90370 launches priced, 96 releases in 12 months
Turn-Based Strategy + Story Rich$8,09741 launches priced, 43 releases in 12 months
Story Rich + Supernatural$5,82533 launches priced, 45 releases in 12 months
Story Rich + Dating Sim$5,71476 launches priced, 97 releases in 12 months

Every pair with Story Rich

Verdicts

in development

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