Tag pairdata 30 Sep 2026

Sci-fi + Top-Down Shooter: a typical launch earns $141 in its first year

That is the median of 46 indie paid launches, 2024 Q4 to 2025 Q3. 1 of 81 matured launches earned $100k or more, against 2.5 expected for their price and launch quarter. Releases fell 4% on the year before: 48 against 50.

One game dominates the figure

Price: $141
Price vs a year earlier: −73.2%
Releases, 12 months: 48
Upcoming games: 164
Games on the store: 458

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.

Sci-fi + Top-Down Shooter 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.	0.08%share of upcoming wishlist heat	0.04% to 0.12%	9 ranked of 164 upcoming gameswishlist rank 30 Sep 2026	#2,052 of 7,193pairs on this board
Launch successLaunches earning $100k or more, against the number expected for their price tier and launch quarter. One game dominates the figure	0.73xhits against expected	0.59x to 1.34x	81 launchesindie paid launches 31 Mar 2024 to 1 Apr 2026 (6 to 30 months old)	#4,547 of 6,324pairs on this board
Fewer new releasesFewer launches relative to players. Historically this did not predict better launches.	Below this board's minimum sample, so not ranked. Needs 15 or more tracked games and 20 or more releases in each 12-month period.
Rising demandGaining players faster than same-age games. Descriptive, not a launch signal.	Below this board's minimum sample, so not ranked. Needs 15 or more tracked games and 1,000 reviews in each window.

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: 1
Expected: 2.5

Launches: 81
Hit rate: 1.2%0.0% to 3.8%
Expected rate: 3.0%
Against expected: 0.73x0.59x to 1.34x

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

81 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: $0
Median: $161
Top tenth: $3,223

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: 48
Prior 12 months: 50

Change: −4%

Parent tags

Sci-fiNot a genreA theme, mood, feature or presentation tag: never ranked as a market on its own, only inside pairs.
Top-Down ShooterGenre pageRanked on every board, with its best 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 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

Every pair with Sci-fi

More with Top-Down Shooter

pairs with Top-Down Shooter

Roguelite + Top-Down Shooter$1,010116 launches priced, 189 releases in 12 months
Top-Down Shooter + Twin Stick Shooter$90973 launches priced, 113 releases in 12 months
Top-Down Shooter + Bullet Hell$809179 launches priced, 260 releases in 12 months
Action RPG + Top-Down Shooter$72833 launches priced, 39 releases in 12 months
Top-Down Shooter + Action Roguelike$687150 launches priced, 242 releases in 12 months
Roguelike + Top-Down Shooter$443111 launches priced, 155 releases in 12 months

Every pair with Top-Down Shooter

Verdicts

in development

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