Tag pairdata 30 Sep 2026

Simulation + Difficult: a typical launch earns $1,718 in its first year

That is the median of 31 indie paid launches, 2024 Q4 to 2025 Q3. 5 of 64 matured launches earned $100k or more, against 2.9 expected for their price and launch quarter. Releases rose 62% on the year before: 55 against 34.

Price: $1,718
Price vs a year earlier: +46.6%
Releases, 12 months: 55
Upcoming games: 80
Games on the store: 410

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 + 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. One game dominates the figure Listed after unflagged rows on this board	0.04%share of upcoming wishlist heat	0.03% to 0.07%	7 ranked of 80 upcoming gameswishlist rank 30 Sep 2026	#6,475 of 7,193pairs on this board
Launch successLaunches earning $100k or more, against the number expected for their price tier and launch quarter.	1.35xhits against expected	0.93x to 2.15x	64 launchesindie paid launches 31 Mar 2024 to 1 Apr 2026 (6 to 30 months old)	#1,140 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: 5
Expected: 2.9

Launches: 64
Hit rate: 7.8%1.6% to 17.8%
Expected rate: 4.5%
Against expected: 1.35x0.93x to 2.15x

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

64 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: $32
Median: $1,092
Top tenth: $60,383

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: 55
Prior 12 months: 34

Change: +62%

Parent tags

SimulationGenre 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 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 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
Roguelite + Difficult$3,03570 launches priced, 97 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

Every pair with Difficult

Verdicts

in development

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