Tag pairdata 30 Sep 2026

Story Rich + Dating Sim: a typical launch earns $5,714 in its first year

That is the median of 76 indie paid launches, 2024 Q4 to 2025 Q3. 27 of 143 matured launches earned $100k or more, against 16.2 expected for their price and launch quarter. Releases rose 14% on the year before: 97 against 85.

China market: over 35% of reviews are Chinese

Price: $5,714
Price vs a year earlier: −63.5%
Releases, 12 months: 97
Upcoming games: 286
Games on the store: 751

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.

Story Rich + Dating Sim 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.	0.37%share of upcoming wishlist heat	0.20% to 0.64%	46 ranked of 286 upcoming gameswishlist rank 30 Sep 2026	#632 of 7,193pairs on this board
Launch successLaunches earning $100k or more, against the number expected for their price tier and launch quarter. China market: over 35% of reviews are Chinese Listed after unflagged rows on this board	1.56xhits against expected	1.21x to 2.01x	143 launchesindie paid launches 31 Mar 2024 to 1 Apr 2026 (6 to 30 months old)	#5,860 of 6,324pairs on this board
Fewer new releasesFewer launches relative to players. Historically this did not predict better launches. China market: over 35% of reviews are Chinese	+3%player demand against new supply, relative to Steam	−18% to +27%	71 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025; releases 30 Sep 2025 to 30 Sep 2026 vs prior 12 months	#1,342 of 2,361pairs on this board
Rising demandGaining players faster than same-age games. Descriptive, not a launch signal. China market: over 35% of reviews are Chinese	−14%review growth against same-age games	−23% to −6%	71 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025	#1,435 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: 27
Expected: 16.2

Launches: 143
Hit rate: 18.9%15.0% to 29.9%
Expected rate: 11.3%
Against expected: 1.56x1.21x 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

143 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: $133
Median: $6,193
Top tenth: $227,403

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: 97
Prior 12 months: 85

Change: +14%
Against Steam: −16%after Steam-wide growth, shrunk by 5 releases

Parent tags

Story RichNot a genreA theme, mood, feature or presentation tag: never ranked as a market on its own, only inside pairs.
Dating SimGenre 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 Story Rich

pairs with Story Rich

Story Rich + Narrative$13,10440 launches priced, 59 releases in 12 months
Story Rich + Historical$9,68533 launches priced, 53 releases in 12 months
Story Rich + Investigation$8,90370 launches priced, 96 releases in 12 months
Turn-Based Strategy + Story Rich$8,09741 launches priced, 43 releases in 12 months
Story Rich + Supernatural$5,82533 launches priced, 45 releases in 12 months
Story Rich + Hand-drawn$5,46489 launches priced, 127 releases in 12 months

Every pair with Story Rich

More with Dating Sim

pairs with Dating Sim

Dating Sim + FMV$40,45030 launches priced, 28 releases in 12 months
Dating Sim + LGBTQ+$7,36631 launches priced, 45 releases in 12 months
Dating Sim + Otome$6,91133 launches priced, 41 releases in 12 months
RPG + Dating Sim$6,63993 launches priced, 145 releases in 12 months
Multiple Endings + Dating Sim$6,57961 launches priced, 96 releases in 12 months
Immersive Sim + Dating Sim$5,95146 launches priced, 46 releases in 12 months

Every pair with Dating Sim

Verdicts

in development

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