Tag pairdata 30 Sep 2026

Simulation + Relaxing: a typical launch earns $981 in its first year

That is the median of 322 indie paid launches, 2024 Q4 to 2025 Q3. 66 of 694 matured launches earned $100k or more, against 38.3 expected for their price and launch quarter. Releases rose 120% on the year before: 780 against 355.

Price: $981
Price vs a year earlier: −54.6%
Releases, 12 months: 780
Upcoming games: 1,477
Games on the store: 3,615

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 + Relaxing 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.	1.61%share of upcoming wishlist heat	1.22% to 2.13%	181 ranked of 1,478 upcoming gameswishlist rank 30 Sep 2026	#147 of 7,193pairs on this board
Launch successLaunches earning $100k or more, against the number expected for their price tier and launch quarter.	1.67xhits against expected	1.39x to 2.01x	694 launchesindie paid launches 31 Mar 2024 to 1 Apr 2026 (6 to 30 months old)	#424 of 6,324pairs on this board
Fewer new releasesFewer launches relative to players. Historically this did not predict better launches.	−40%player demand against new supply, relative to Steam	−48% to −31%	161 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025; releases 30 Sep 2025 to 30 Sep 2026 vs prior 12 months	#2,273 of 2,361pairs on this board
Rising demandGaining players faster than same-age games. Descriptive, not a launch signal.	−3%review growth against same-age games	−11% to +7%	161 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025	#950 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: 66
Expected: 38.3

Launches: 694
Hit rate: 9.5%7.6% to 15.1%
Expected rate: 5.5%
Against expected: 1.67x1.39x to 2.01x

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

694 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: $40
Median: $1,434
Top tenth: $93,657

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: 780
Prior 12 months: 355

Change: +120%
Against Steam: +61%after Steam-wide growth, shrunk by 5 releases

Parent tags

SimulationGenre pageRanked on every board, with its best pairs.
RelaxingNot 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 Relaxing

pairs with Relaxing

Relaxing + Economy$7,82849 launches priced, 115 releases in 12 months
Relaxing + Open World$3,43945 launches priced, 56 releases in 12 months
Building + Relaxing$3,39787 launches priced, 134 releases in 12 months
Relaxing + Management$3,154101 launches priced, 233 releases in 12 months
Relaxing + Farming Sim$2,87450 launches priced, 106 releases in 12 months
Relaxing + Crafting$2,42950 launches priced, 83 releases in 12 months

Every pair with Relaxing

Verdicts

in development

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