Tag pairdata 30 Sep 2026

Side Scroller + Cute: a typical launch earns $262 in its first year

That is the median of 102 indie paid launches, 2024 Q4 to 2025 Q3. 3 of 220 matured launches earned $100k or more, against 8.2 expected for their price and launch quarter. Releases rose 20% on the year before: 147 against 122.

Price: $262
Price vs a year earlier: −46.0%
Releases, 12 months: 147
Upcoming games: 282
Games on the store: 1,108

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.

Side Scroller + Cute 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.	0.07%share of upcoming wishlist heat	0.04% to 0.10%	16 ranked of 282 upcoming gameswishlist rank 30 Sep 2026	#2,149 of 7,193pairs on this board
Launch successLaunches earning $100k or more, against the number expected for their price tier and launch quarter.	0.54xhits against expected	0.38x to 0.93x	220 launchesindie paid launches 31 Mar 2024 to 1 Apr 2026 (6 to 30 months old)	#5,480 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: 3
Expected: 8.2

Launches: 220
Hit rate: 1.4%0.4% to 5.4%
Expected rate: 3.7%
Against expected: 0.54x0.38x to 0.93x

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

221 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: $324
Top tenth: $7,088

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: 147
Prior 12 months: 122

Change: +20%

Parent tags

Side ScrollerNot a genreA theme, mood, feature or presentation tag: never ranked as a market on its own, only inside pairs.
CuteNot 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 Side Scroller

pairs with Side Scroller

Metroidvania + Side Scroller$2,22542 launches priced, 38 releases in 12 months
Side Scroller + Female Protagonist$2,18344 launches priced, 48 releases in 12 months
Side Scroller + Difficult$1,56744 launches priced, 53 releases in 12 months
Hack and Slash + Side Scroller$1,41534 launches priced, 35 releases in 12 months
Side Scroller + Action RPG$1,06132 launches priced, 36 releases in 12 months
Side Scroller + Beat 'em up$81039 launches priced, 43 releases in 12 months

Every pair with Side Scroller

More with Cute

pairs with Cute

Open World + Cute$5,88634 launches priced, 33 releases in 12 months
Cute + Romance$5,22277 launches priced, 90 releases in 12 months
Story Rich + Cute$3,396163 launches priced, 188 releases in 12 months
Cute + LGBTQ+$2,97434 launches priced, 56 releases in 12 months
Psychological Horror + Cute$2,84651 launches priced, 66 releases in 12 months
Visual Novel + Cute$2,798212 launches priced, 288 releases in 12 months

Every pair with Cute

Verdicts

in development

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