Psychological Horror + Thriller: a typical launch earns $2,003 in its first year

That is the median of 167 indie paid launches, 2024 Q4 to 2025 Q3. 15 of 344 matured launches earned $100k or more, against 11.6 expected for their price and launch quarter. Releases rose 18% on the year before: 223 against 189.

Price: $2,003
Price vs a year earlier: +22.5%
Releases, 12 months: 223
Upcoming games: 458
Games on the store: 1,185

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 + Thriller 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.	0.15%share of upcoming wishlist heat	0.12% to 0.20%	35 ranked of 458 upcoming gameswishlist rank 30 Sep 2026	#1,284 of 7,193pairs on this board
Launch successLaunches earning $100k or more, against the number expected for their price tier and launch quarter.	1.24xhits against expected	0.89x to 1.75x	344 launchesindie paid launches 31 Mar 2024 to 1 Apr 2026 (6 to 30 months old)	#1,603 of 6,324pairs on this board
Fewer new releasesFewer launches relative to players. Historically this did not predict better launches.	+15%player demand against new supply, relative to Steam	−1% to +42%	74 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025; releases 30 Sep 2025 to 30 Sep 2026 vs prior 12 months	#910 of 2,361pairs on this board
Rising demandGaining players faster than same-age games. Descriptive, not a launch signal.	+1%review growth against same-age games	−7% to +9%	74 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025	#783 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: 15
Expected: 11.6

Launches: 344
Hit rate: 4.4%1.9% to 8.4%
Expected rate: 3.4%
Against expected: 1.24x0.89x to 1.75x

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

344 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: $127
Median: $1,820
Top tenth: $36,133

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: 223
Prior 12 months: 189

Change: +18%
Against Steam: −13%after Steam-wide growth, shrunk by 5 releases

Parent tags

Psychological HorrorGenre pageRanked on every board, with its best pairs.
ThrillerNot 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 Thriller

pairs with Thriller

Thriller + Supernatural$5,86733 launches priced, 42 releases in 12 months
Thriller + Walking Simulator$4,18364 launches priced, 94 releases in 12 months
Thriller + Realistic$3,21454 launches priced, 56 releases in 12 months
Story Rich + Thriller$2,90675 launches priced, 97 releases in 12 months
Thriller + Mystery$1,820107 launches priced, 122 releases in 12 months
Thriller + Multiple Endings$1,82033 launches priced, 51 releases in 12 months

Every pair with Thriller

Verdicts

in development

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