Tag pairdata 30 Sep 2026

Roguelite + Difficult: a typical launch earns $3,035 in its first year

That is the median of 70 indie paid launches, 2024 Q4 to 2025 Q3. 14 of 136 matured launches earned $100k or more, against 13.9 expected for their price and launch quarter. Releases rose 26% on the year before: 97 against 77.

Price: $3,035
Price vs a year earlier: +43.0%
Releases, 12 months: 97
Upcoming games: 260
Games on the store: 757

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.

Roguelite + Difficult 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.	0.19%share of upcoming wishlist heat	0.10% to 0.27%	30 ranked of 260 upcoming gameswishlist rank 30 Sep 2026	#1,105 of 7,193pairs on this board
Launch successLaunches earning $100k or more, against the number expected for their price tier and launch quarter.	1.00xhits against expected	0.72x to 1.41x	136 launchesindie paid launches 31 Mar 2024 to 1 Apr 2026 (6 to 30 months old)	#2,778 of 6,324pairs on this board
Fewer new releasesFewer launches relative to players. Historically this did not predict better launches.	−14%player demand against new supply, relative to Steam	−38% to +24%	34 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025; releases 30 Sep 2025 to 30 Sep 2026 vs prior 12 months	#1,843 of 2,361pairs on this board
Rising demandGaining players faster than same-age games. Descriptive, not a launch signal.	−21%review growth against same-age games	−35% to −7%	34 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025	#1,554 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: 14
Expected: 13.9

Launches: 136
Hit rate: 10.3%7.2% to 18.2%
Expected rate: 10.3%
Against expected: 1.00x0.72x to 1.41x

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

136 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: $182
Median: $2,801
Top tenth: $104,325

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: 97
Prior 12 months: 77

Change: +26%
Against Steam: −8%after Steam-wide growth, shrunk by 5 releases

Parent tags

RogueliteGenre pageRanked on every board, with its best pairs.
DifficultNot 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 Roguelite

pairs with Roguelite

Roguelite + Bullet Heaven$12,77652 launches priced, 181 releases in 12 months
Roguelite + Roguelike Deckbuilder$9,65574 launches priced, 161 releases in 12 months
FPS + Roguelite$5,46236 launches priced, 47 releases in 12 months
Co-op + Roguelite$4,52138 launches priced, 51 releases in 12 months
Roguelite + Female Protagonist$4,27345 launches priced, 62 releases in 12 months
Roguelite + Anime$4,27333 launches priced, 53 releases in 12 months

Every pair with Roguelite

More with Difficult

pairs with Difficult

RPG + Difficult$8,09240 launches priced, 39 releases in 12 months
Roguelike + Difficult$3,64173 launches priced, 93 releases in 12 months
Difficult + Action Roguelike$2,42672 launches priced, 73 releases in 12 months
Difficult + Souls-like$2,12341 launches priced, 39 releases in 12 months
Difficult + Bullet Hell$2,12150 launches priced, 58 releases in 12 months
Exploration + Difficult$2,11955 launches priced, 63 releases in 12 months

Every pair with Difficult

Verdicts

in development

GMD Verdicts will be a written read on a niche, built from the same data and the published method on this site. Join the early list and we will email you when the first ones are ready. Nothing on this page is held back while you wait.