Tag pairdata 30 Sep 2026

Story Rich + Immersive Sim: a typical launch earns $3,796 in its first year

That is the median of 54 indie paid launches, 2024 Q4 to 2025 Q3. 25 of 101 matured launches earned $100k or more, against 10.3 expected for their price and launch quarter. Releases rose 10% on the year before: 69 against 63.

China market: over 35% of reviews are Chinese

Price: $3,796
Price vs a year earlier: −4.3%
Releases, 12 months: 69
Upcoming games: 238
Games on the store: 488

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 + Immersive 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.	0.41%share of upcoming wishlist heat	0.26% to 0.67%	35 ranked of 238 upcoming gameswishlist rank 30 Sep 2026	#569 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	2.10xhits against expected	1.62x to 2.68x	101 launchesindie paid launches 31 Mar 2024 to 1 Apr 2026 (6 to 30 months old)	#5,827 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	+15%player demand against new supply, relative to Steam	−17% to +50%	27 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025; releases 30 Sep 2025 to 30 Sep 2026 vs prior 12 months	#938 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	−8%review growth against same-age games	−17% to +5%	27 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025	#2,395 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: 25
Expected: 10.3

Launches: 101
Hit rate: 24.8%14.1% to 37.4%
Expected rate: 10.2%
Against expected: 2.10x1.62x to 2.68x

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

101 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: $101
Median: $4,857
Top tenth: $250,578

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: 69
Prior 12 months: 63

Change: +10%
Against Steam: −20%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.
Immersive 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 + Dating Sim$5,71476 launches priced, 97 releases in 12 months

Every pair with Story Rich

More with Immersive Sim

pairs with Immersive Sim

Cinematic + Immersive Sim$24,23132 launches priced, 35 releases in 12 months
Capitalism + Immersive Sim$16,42037 launches priced, 52 releases in 12 months
Multiplayer + Immersive Sim$15,00039 launches priced, 38 releases in 12 months
Economy + Immersive Sim$14,95288 launches priced, 116 releases in 12 months
Immersive Sim + Management$8,720136 launches priced, 195 releases in 12 months
Building + Immersive Sim$7,64451 launches priced, 53 releases in 12 months

Every pair with Immersive Sim

Verdicts

in development

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