Psychological Horror + Exploration: a typical launch earns $1,402 in its first year

That is the median of 415 indie paid launches, 2024 Q4 to 2025 Q3. 41 of 818 matured launches earned $100k or more, against 30.7 expected for their price and launch quarter. Releases rose 26% on the year before: 580 against 461.

Price: $1,402
Price vs a year earlier: −22.9%
Releases, 12 months: 580
Upcoming games: 1,501
Games on the store: 3,373

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.

Psychological Horror + Exploration 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.	1.18%share of upcoming wishlist heat	0.83% to 1.65%	133 ranked of 1,501 upcoming gameswishlist rank 30 Sep 2026	#198 of 7,193pairs on this board
Launch successLaunches earning $100k or more, against the number expected for their price tier and launch quarter.	1.30xhits against expected	1.03x to 1.65x	818 launchesindie paid launches 31 Mar 2024 to 1 Apr 2026 (6 to 30 months old)	#1,338 of 6,324pairs on this board
Fewer new releasesFewer launches relative to players. Historically this did not predict better launches.	+16%player demand against new supply, relative to Steam	+5% to +30%	151 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025; releases 30 Sep 2025 to 30 Sep 2026 vs prior 12 months	#870 of 2,361pairs on this board
Rising demandGaining players faster than same-age games. Descriptive, not a launch signal.	+8%review growth against same-age games	0% to +15%	151 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025	#412 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: 41
Expected: 30.7

Launches: 818
Hit rate: 5.0%3.5% to 7.1%
Expected rate: 3.8%
Against expected: 1.30x1.03x to 1.65x

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

818 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: $100
Median: $1,514
Top tenth: $25,618

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: 580
Prior 12 months: 461

Change: +26%
Against Steam: −7%after Steam-wide growth, shrunk by 5 releases

Parent tags

Psychological HorrorGenre pageRanked on every board, with its best pairs.
ExplorationNot 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 Psychological Horror

pairs with Psychological Horror

Co-op + Psychological Horror$5,48140 launches priced, 49 releases in 12 months
Psychological Horror + Cinematic$5,00947 launches priced, 58 releases in 12 months
Psychological Horror + Online Co-Op$4,64950 launches priced, 63 releases in 12 months
Psychological Horror + Multiplayer$4,45153 launches priced, 67 releases in 12 months
Psychological Horror + Story Rich$3,335269 launches priced, 401 releases in 12 months
Psychological Horror + Female Protagonist$2,91976 launches priced, 102 releases in 12 months

Every pair with Psychological Horror

More with Exploration

pairs with Exploration

Exploration + Cozy$24,01549 launches priced, 99 releases in 12 months
Exploration + Open World Survival Craft$13,97334 launches priced, 26 releases in 12 months
Driving + Exploration$10,40830 launches priced, 42 releases in 12 months
Exploration + Multiplayer$8,00174 launches priced, 137 releases in 12 months
Exploration + Online Co-Op$7,08069 launches priced, 134 releases in 12 months
Co-op + Exploration$5,14762 launches priced, 101 releases in 12 months

Every pair with Exploration

Verdicts

in development

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