Tag pairdata 30 Sep 2026

Simulation + Action-Adventure: a typical launch earns $454 in its first year

That is the median of 152 indie paid launches, 2024 Q4 to 2025 Q3. 9 of 316 matured launches earned $100k or more, against 18.2 expected for their price and launch quarter. Releases rose 7% on the year before: 207 against 194.

Price: $454
Price vs a year earlier: −43.9%
Releases, 12 months: 207
Upcoming games: 588
Games on the store: 1,513

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.

Simulation + Action-Adventure 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.	0.57%share of upcoming wishlist heat	0.36% to 0.79%	64 ranked of 588 upcoming gameswishlist rank 30 Sep 2026	#413 of 7,193pairs on this board
Launch successLaunches earning $100k or more, against the number expected for their price tier and launch quarter.	0.57xhits against expected	0.39x to 0.86x	316 launchesindie paid launches 31 Mar 2024 to 1 Apr 2026 (6 to 30 months old)	#5,384 of 6,324pairs on this board
Fewer new releasesFewer launches relative to players. Historically this did not predict better launches.	+28%player demand against new supply, relative to Steam	+5% to +56%	44 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025; releases 30 Sep 2025 to 30 Sep 2026 vs prior 12 months	#551 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	−9% to +7%	44 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025	#873 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: 9
Expected: 18.2

Launches: 316
Hit rate: 2.8%1.0% to 6.8%
Expected rate: 5.8%
Against expected: 0.57x0.39x to 0.86x

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

316 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: $486
Top tenth: $23,662

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: 207
Prior 12 months: 194

Change: +7%
Against Steam: −23%after Steam-wide growth, shrunk by 5 releases

Parent tags

SimulationGenre pageRanked on every board, with its best pairs.
Action-AdventureGenre 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 Simulation

pairs with Simulation

Simulation + Shop Keeper$32,26936 launches priced, 330 releases in 12 months
Simulation + Cozy$15,70676 launches priced, 253 releases in 12 months
Simulation + Online Co-Op$11,02868 launches priced, 133 releases in 12 months
Simulation + Multiplayer$8,980122 launches priced, 253 releases in 12 months
Simulation + Base Building$7,38289 launches priced, 173 releases in 12 months
Simulation + Economy$6,979210 launches priced, 540 releases in 12 months

Every pair with Simulation

More with Action-Adventure

pairs with Action-Adventure

Action-Adventure + VR$6,75746 launches priced, 38 releases in 12 months
Co-op + Action-Adventure$4,36354 launches priced, 57 releases in 12 months
Online Co-Op + Action-Adventure$4,12753 launches priced, 80 releases in 12 months
Action-Adventure + Dark Fantasy$3,09649 launches priced, 105 releases in 12 months
Metroidvania + Action-Adventure$2,86390 launches priced, 117 releases in 12 months
Action-Adventure + Gore$2,02430 launches priced, 18 releases in 12 months

Every pair with Action-Adventure

Verdicts

in development

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