Tag pairdata 30 Sep 2026
Niches / Psychological Horror / Sci-fi
Psychological Horror + Sci-fi: a typical launch earns $566 in its first year
That is the median of 39 indie paid launches, 2024 Q4 to 2025 Q3. 7 of 80 matured launches earned $100k or more, against 4.0 expected for their price and launch quarter. Releases rose 41% on the year before: 58 against 41.
- Price
- $566 median of 39 launches
- Price vs a year earlier
- −81.3% four quarters on the four before
- Releases, 12 months
- 58 41 the year before
- Upcoming games
- 187 coming soon on Steam
- Games on the store
- 395 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. | 0.11%share of upcoming wishlist heat | 0.08% to 0.15% | 25 ranked of 187 upcoming gameswishlist rank 30 Sep 2026 | #1,606 of 7,193pairs on this board |
| Launch successLaunches earning $100k or more, against the number expected for their price tier and launch quarter. | 1.43xhits against expected | 0.98x to 2.19x | 80 launchesindie paid launches 31 Mar 2024 to 1 Apr 2026 (6 to 30 months old) | #893 of 6,324pairs on this board |
Fewer new releasesFewer launches relative to players. Historically this did not predict better launches.
| +1%player demand against new supply, relative to Steam | −25% to +30% | 20 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025; releases 30 Sep 2025 to 30 Sep 2026 vs prior 12 months | #1,406 of 2,361pairs on this board |
Rising demandGaining players faster than same-age games. Descriptive, not a launch signal.
| +2%review growth against same-age games | −6% to +11% | 20 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025 | #1,872 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
- 80
- Hit rate
- 8.8%3.8% to 15.9%
- Expected rate
- 5.0%
- Against expected
- 1.43x0.98x to 2.19x
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
80 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
- $79
- Median
- $890
- Top tenth
- $51,055
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
- +41%
- Against Steam
- +1%after Steam-wide growth, shrunk by 5 releases
Parent tags
- Psychological HorrorGenre pageRanked on every board, with its best pairs.
- Sci-fiNot 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.
- Lethal Company (opens the Steam store)2023 · 411,708 reviews, 97% positiveest. $82M
- ROUTINE (opens the Steam store)2025 · 7,430 reviews, 91% positiveest. $3.8M
- 1000xRESIST (opens the Steam store)2024 · 5,342 reviews, 96% positiveest. $2.2M
- KARMA: The Dark World (opens the Steam store)2025 · 3,979 reviews, 90% positiveest. $1.6M
- SCP: Fragmented Minds (opens the Steam store)2025 · 1,249 reviews, 91% positiveest. $253k
- Sketchy's Contract (opens the Steam store)2024 · 1,027 reviews, 83% positiveest. $187k
- ADEN (opens the Steam store)2024 · 671 reviews, 96% positiveest. $122k
- ZERO PROTOCOL (opens the Steam store)2024 · 495 reviews, 84% positiveest. $120k
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 Sci-fi
pairs with Sci-fi- Sci-fi + Anime$4,24936 launches priced, 49 releases in 12 months
- Sci-fi + Cyberpunk$3,08346 launches priced, 61 releases in 12 months
- Sci-fi + Cute$1,80330 launches priced, 31 releases in 12 months
- Story Rich + Sci-fi$1,61786 launches priced, 117 releases in 12 months
- RPG + Sci-fi$1,61665 launches priced, 76 releases in 12 months
- Exploration + Sci-fi$1,457125 launches priced, 163 releases in 12 months
Verdicts
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