Tag pairdata 30 Sep 2026

Simulation + God Game: a typical launch earns $303 in its first year

That is the median of 63 indie paid launches, 2024 Q4 to 2025 Q3. 5 of 106 matured launches earned $100k or more, against 7.2 expected for their price and launch quarter. Releases rose 12% on the year before: 83 against 74.

Big publishers: over 85% from majors or $40+ games

Price: $303
Price vs a year earlier: +88.9%
Releases, 12 months: 83
Upcoming games: 194
Games on the store: 577

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 + God Game 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.	0.10%share of upcoming wishlist heat	0.06% to 0.14%	20 ranked of 194 upcoming gameswishlist rank 30 Sep 2026	#1,765 of 7,193pairs on this board
Launch successLaunches earning $100k or more, against the number expected for their price tier and launch quarter. Big publishers: over 85% from majors or $40+ games	0.79xhits against expected	0.54x to 1.27x	106 launchesindie paid launches 31 Mar 2024 to 1 Apr 2026 (6 to 30 months old)	#4,174 of 6,324pairs on this board
Fewer new releasesFewer launches relative to players. Historically this did not predict better launches.	+24%player demand against new supply, relative to Steam	−7% to +59%	18 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025; releases 30 Sep 2025 to 30 Sep 2026 vs prior 12 months	#649 of 2,361pairs on this board
Rising demandGaining players faster than same-age games. Descriptive, not a launch signal.	+2%review growth against same-age games	−9% to +10%	18 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025	#739 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: 5
Expected: 7.2

Launches: 106
Hit rate: 4.7%3.0% to 8.7%
Expected rate: 6.8%
Against expected: 0.79x0.54x to 1.27x

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

106 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: $505
Top tenth: $34,790

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: 83
Prior 12 months: 74

Change: +12%
Against Steam: −18%after Steam-wide growth, shrunk by 5 releases

Parent tags

SimulationGenre pageRanked on every board, with its best pairs.
God GameGenre 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 God Game

pairs with God Game

2D + God Game$38131 launches priced, 39 releases in 12 months
Strategy + God Game$30031 launches priced, 53 releases in 12 months
Casual + God Game$26153 launches priced, 53 releases in 12 months
Sandbox + God Gameno price45 releases in 12 months
God Game + Idlerno price43 releases in 12 months
God Game + Incrementalno price34 releases in 12 months

Every pair with God Game

Verdicts

in development

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