Tag pairdata 30 Sep 2026

Simulation + Trading: a typical launch earns $5,239 in its first year

That is the median of 50 indie paid launches, 2024 Q4 to 2025 Q3. 14 of 104 matured launches earned $100k or more, against 9.6 expected for their price and launch quarter. Releases rose 108% on the year before: 127 against 61.

Price: $5,239
Price vs a year earlier: −81.1%
Releases, 12 months: 127
Upcoming games: 326
Games on the store: 656

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 + Trading 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.	0.34%share of upcoming wishlist heat	0.15% to 0.52%	31 ranked of 326 upcoming gameswishlist rank 30 Sep 2026	#680 of 7,193pairs on this board
Launch successLaunches earning $100k or more, against the number expected for their price tier and launch quarter.	1.34xhits against expected	0.97x to 1.87x	104 launchesindie paid launches 31 Mar 2024 to 1 Apr 2026 (6 to 30 months old)	#1,182 of 6,324pairs on this board
Fewer new releasesFewer launches relative to players. Historically this did not predict better launches.	−38%player demand against new supply, relative to Steam	−51% to −18%	32 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025; releases 30 Sep 2025 to 30 Sep 2026 vs prior 12 months	#2,259 of 2,361pairs on this board
Rising demandGaining players faster than same-age games. Descriptive, not a launch signal.	−9%review growth against same-age games	−17% to −2%	32 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025	#1,230 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: 14
Expected: 9.6

Launches: 104
Hit rate: 13.5%8.7% to 21.6%
Expected rate: 9.3%
Against expected: 1.34x0.97x to 1.87x

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

104 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: $202
Median: $5,186
Top tenth: $185,640

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: 127
Prior 12 months: 61

Change: +108%
Against Steam: +48%after Steam-wide growth, shrunk by 5 releases

Parent tags

SimulationGenre pageRanked on every board, with its best pairs.
TradingGenre 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 Trading

pairs with Trading

Trading + Economy$24,39844 launches priced, 105 releases in 12 months
Trading + Management$22,06052 launches priced, 89 releases in 12 months
Strategy + Tradingno price63 releases in 12 months
Casual + Tradingno price61 releases in 12 months
Trading + Life Simno price43 releases in 12 months
Trading + Resource Managementno price42 releases in 12 months

Every pair with Trading

Verdicts

in development

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