Lore-Rich + Interactive Fiction: a typical launch earns $1,132 in its first year

That is the median of 37 indie paid launches, 2024 Q4 to 2025 Q3. 5 of 61 matured launches earned $100k or more, against 3.5 expected for their price and launch quarter. Releases rose 20% on the year before: 54 against 45.

China market: over 35% of reviews are Chinese

Price: $1,132
Price vs a year earlier: +80.6%
Releases, 12 months: 54
Upcoming games: 168
Games on the store: 336

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.

Lore-Rich + Interactive Fiction 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. China market: over 35% of reviews are Chinese	0.03%share of upcoming wishlist heat	0.02% to 0.03%	8 ranked of 168 upcoming gameswishlist rank 30 Sep 2026	#3,217 of 7,193pairs on this board
Launch successLaunches earning $100k or more, against the number expected for their price tier and launch quarter. China market: over 35% of reviews are Chinese Listed after unflagged rows on this board	1.22xhits against expected	0.84x to 1.94x	61 launchesindie paid launches 31 Mar 2024 to 1 Apr 2026 (6 to 30 months old)	#5,951 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: 5
Expected: 3.5

Launches: 61
Hit rate: 8.2%4.8% to 19.1%
Expected rate: 5.8%
Against expected: 1.22x0.84x to 1.94x

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

61 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: $81
Median: $971
Top tenth: $64,991

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: 54
Prior 12 months: 45

Change: +20%

Parent tags

Lore-RichNot a genreA theme, mood, feature or presentation tag: never ranked as a market on its own, only inside pairs.
Interactive FictionGenre 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 Lore-Rich

pairs with Lore-Rich

Lore-Rich + Multiple Endings$2,52732 launches priced, 62 releases in 12 months
Visual Novel + Lore-Rich$2,32451 launches priced, 84 releases in 12 months
Story Rich + Lore-Rich$2,02371 launches priced, 120 releases in 12 months
RPG + Lore-Rich$1,61965 launches priced, 106 releases in 12 months
Lore-Rich + 2D$1,58448 launches priced, 110 releases in 12 months
Horror + Lore-Rich$1,57238 launches priced, 52 releases in 12 months

Every pair with Lore-Rich

More with Interactive Fiction

pairs with Interactive Fiction

Interactive Fiction + FMV$39,86745 launches priced, 64 releases in 12 months
Cinematic + Interactive Fiction$4,18748 launches priced, 48 releases in 12 months
Interactive Fiction + LGBTQ+$4,04637 launches priced, 62 releases in 12 months
Dating Sim + Interactive Fiction$3,15892 launches priced, 128 releases in 12 months
Romance + Interactive Fiction$3,13063 launches priced, 96 releases in 12 months
Story Rich + Interactive Fiction$2,268207 launches priced, 343 releases in 12 months

Every pair with Interactive Fiction

Verdicts

in development

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