Story Rich + Interactive Fiction: a typical launch earns $2,268 in its first year

That is the median of 207 indie paid launches, 2024 Q4 to 2025 Q3. 45 of 396 matured launches earned $100k or more, against 28.7 expected for their price and launch quarter. Releases rose 31% on the year before: 343 against 262.

China market: over 35% of reviews are Chinese

Price: $2,268
Price vs a year earlier: +0.1%
Releases, 12 months: 343
Upcoming games: 830
Games on the store: 2,224

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 + Interactive Fiction 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.	0.51%share of upcoming wishlist heat	0.31% to 0.75%	81 ranked of 830 upcoming gameswishlist rank 30 Sep 2026	#468 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	1.51xhits against expected	1.22x to 1.87x	396 launchesindie paid launches 31 Mar 2024 to 1 Apr 2026 (6 to 30 months old)	#5,873 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	+3%player demand against new supply, relative to Steam	−14% to +25%	124 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025; releases 30 Sep 2025 to 30 Sep 2026 vs prior 12 months	#1,349 of 2,361pairs on this board
Rising demandGaining players faster than same-age games. Descriptive, not a launch signal. One game dominates the figure Listed after unflagged rows on this board	−1%review growth against same-age games	−9% to +8%	124 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025	#2,048 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: 45
Expected: 28.7

Launches: 396
Hit rate: 11.4%8.5% to 18.7%
Expected rate: 7.3%
Against expected: 1.51x1.22x 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

396 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: $61
Median: $2,021
Top tenth: $125,487

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: 343
Prior 12 months: 262

Change: +31%
Against Steam: −4%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.
Interactive FictionGenre 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 Interactive Fiction

pairs with Interactive Fiction

Interactive Fiction + FMV$39,86745 launches priced, 64 releases in 12 months
Cinematic + Interactive Fiction$4,18748 launches priced, 48 releases in 12 months
Interactive Fiction + LGBTQ+$4,04637 launches priced, 62 releases in 12 months
Dating Sim + Interactive Fiction$3,15892 launches priced, 128 releases in 12 months
Romance + Interactive Fiction$3,13063 launches priced, 96 releases in 12 months
Mystery + Interactive Fiction$2,22579 launches priced, 113 releases in 12 months

Every pair with Interactive Fiction

Verdicts

in development

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