Tag pairdata 30 Sep 2026

Story Rich + Detective: a typical launch earns $4,125 in its first year

That is the median of 108 indie paid launches, 2024 Q4 to 2025 Q3. 34 of 213 matured launches earned $100k or more, against 19.2 expected for their price and launch quarter. Releases rose 29% on the year before: 153 against 119.

Price: $4,125
Price vs a year earlier: +112.5%
Releases, 12 months: 153
Upcoming games: 446
Games on the store: 1,237

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 + Detective 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.	0.52%share of upcoming wishlist heat	0.30% to 0.75%	64 ranked of 446 upcoming gameswishlist rank 30 Sep 2026	#460 of 7,193pairs on this board
Launch successLaunches earning $100k or more, against the number expected for their price tier and launch quarter.	1.66xhits against expected	1.31x to 2.10x	213 launchesindie paid launches 31 Mar 2024 to 1 Apr 2026 (6 to 30 months old)	#437 of 6,324pairs on this board
Fewer new releasesFewer launches relative to players. Historically this did not predict better launches. One game dominates the figure China market: over 35% of reviews are Chinese	+6%player demand against new supply, relative to Steam	−14% to +33%	81 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025; releases 30 Sep 2025 to 30 Sep 2026 vs prior 12 months	#1,231 of 2,361pairs on this board
Rising demandGaining players faster than same-age games. Descriptive, not a launch signal. One game dominates the figure China market: over 35% of reviews are Chinese Listed after unflagged rows on this board	0%review growth against same-age games	−11% to +10%	81 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025	#1,984 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: 34
Expected: 19.2

Launches: 213
Hit rate: 16.0%10.3% to 23.9%
Expected rate: 9.0%
Against expected: 1.66x1.31x to 2.10x

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

213 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: $134
Median: $2,630
Top tenth: $166,326

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: 153
Prior 12 months: 119

Change: +29%
Against Steam: −6%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.
DetectiveNot 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 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 + Dating Sim$5,71476 launches priced, 97 releases in 12 months

Every pair with Story Rich

More with Detective

pairs with Detective

Visual Novel + Detective$5,29368 launches priced, 134 releases in 12 months
Detective + Mystery$5,207106 launches priced, 184 releases in 12 months
Detective + Investigation$3,96395 launches priced, 150 releases in 12 months
Point & Click + Detective$2,10470 launches priced, 109 releases in 12 months
Exploration + Detective$1,94182 launches priced, 113 releases in 12 months
Adventure + Detective$1,619120 launches priced, 201 releases in 12 months

Every pair with Detective

Verdicts

in development

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