Tag pairdata 30 Sep 2026
Niches / Psychological Horror / Psychological
Psychological Horror + Psychological: a typical launch earns $1,354 in its first year
That is the median of 130 indie paid launches, 2024 Q4 to 2025 Q3. 10 of 278 matured launches earned $100k or more, against 7.6 expected for their price and launch quarter. Releases rose 28% on the year before: 188 against 147.
- Price
- $1,354 median of 130 launches
- Price vs a year earlier
- −5.8% four quarters on the four before
- Releases, 12 months
- 188 147 the year before
- Upcoming games
- 436 coming soon on Steam
- Games on the store
- 1,069 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. | 0.20%share of upcoming wishlist heat | 0.12% to 0.30% | 33 ranked of 436 upcoming gameswishlist rank 30 Sep 2026 | #1,052 of 7,193pairs on this board |
| Launch successLaunches earning $100k or more, against the number expected for their price tier and launch quarter. | 1.22xhits against expected | 0.85x to 1.83x | 278 launchesindie paid launches 31 Mar 2024 to 1 Apr 2026 (6 to 30 months old) | #1,652 of 6,324pairs on this board |
Fewer new releasesFewer launches relative to players. Historically this did not predict better launches.
| +10%player demand against new supply, relative to Steam | −8% to +32% | 59 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025; releases 30 Sep 2025 to 30 Sep 2026 vs prior 12 months | #1,094 of 2,361pairs on this board |
Rising demandGaining players faster than same-age games. Descriptive, not a launch signal.
| +3%review growth against same-age games | −5% to +10% | 59 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025 | #1,808 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
- 278
- Hit rate
- 3.6%2.6% to 7.0%
- Expected rate
- 2.7%
- Against expected
- 1.22x0.85x to 1.83x
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
278 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
- $115
- Median
- $1,331
- Top tenth
- $21,045
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
- +28%
- Against Steam
- −6%after Steam-wide growth, shrunk by 5 releases
Parent tags
- Psychological HorrorGenre pageRanked on every board, with its best pairs.
- PsychologicalNot a genreA theme, mood, feature or presentation tag: never ranked as a market on its own, only inside 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.
- Mouthwashing (opens the Steam store)2024 · 34,448 reviews, 95% positiveest. $9M
- The Coffin of Andy and Leyley (opens the Steam store)2023 · 36,744 reviews, 96% positiveest. $8.5M
- Pathologic 3 (opens the Steam store)2026 · 2,532 reviews, 80% positiveest. $1.8M
- Psychopomp GOLD (opens the Steam store)2024 · 4,904 reviews, 97% positiveest. $893k
- The NOexistenceN of you AND me (opens the Steam store)2024 · 20,249 reviews, 93% positiveest. $693k
- Luto (opens the Steam store)2025 · 1,231 reviews, 85% positiveest. $498k
- Static Dread: The Lighthouse (opens the Steam store)2025 · 1,405 reviews, 90% positiveest. $310k
- Last Report (opens the Steam store)2025 · 2,440 reviews, 89% positiveest. $247k
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
More with Psychological
pairs with Psychological- Psychological + Walking Simulator$1,81661 launches priced, 78 releases in 12 months
- Surreal + Psychological$1,78330 launches priced, 41 releases in 12 months
- Story Rich + Psychological$1,57670 launches priced, 122 releases in 12 months
- Psychological + Multiple Endings$1,45530 launches priced, 59 releases in 12 months
- Thriller + Psychological$1,37437 launches priced, 52 releases in 12 months
- Horror + Psychological$1,333121 launches priced, 186 releases in 12 months
Verdicts
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