Tag pairdata 30 Sep 2026

Story Rich + Lore-Rich: a typical launch earns $2,023 in its first year

That is the median of 71 indie paid launches, 2024 Q4 to 2025 Q3. 12 of 141 matured launches earned $100k or more, against 11.7 expected for their price and launch quarter. Releases rose 28% on the year before: 120 against 94.

Big publishers: over 85% from majors or $40+ games
China market: over 35% of reviews are Chinese

Price: $2,023
Price vs a year earlier: +51.9%
Releases, 12 months: 120
Upcoming games: 479
Games on the store: 931

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 + Lore-Rich 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.	0.57%share of upcoming wishlist heat	0.32% to 0.79%	62 ranked of 479 upcoming gameswishlist rank 30 Sep 2026	#417 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 Big publishers: over 85% from majors or $40+ games Listed after unflagged rows on this board	1.02xhits against expected	0.72x to 1.47x	141 launchesindie paid launches 31 Mar 2024 to 1 Apr 2026 (6 to 30 months old)	#6,054 of 6,324pairs on this board
Fewer new releasesFewer launches relative to players. Historically this did not predict better launches.	+7%player demand against new supply, relative to Steam	−15% to +35%	47 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025; releases 30 Sep 2025 to 30 Sep 2026 vs prior 12 months	#1,197 of 2,361pairs on this board
Rising demandGaining players faster than same-age games. Descriptive, not a launch signal.	+1%review growth against same-age games	−10% to +10%	47 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025	#758 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: 12
Expected: 11.7

Launches: 141
Hit rate: 8.5%5.8% to 16.0%
Expected rate: 8.3%
Against expected: 1.02x0.72x to 1.47x

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

141 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: $0
Median: $2,023
Top tenth: $96,108

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: 120
Prior 12 months: 94

Change: +28%
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.
Lore-RichNot 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 Lore-Rich

pairs with Lore-Rich

Lore-Rich + Multiple Endings$2,52732 launches priced, 62 releases in 12 months
Visual Novel + Lore-Rich$2,32451 launches priced, 84 releases in 12 months
RPG + Lore-Rich$1,61965 launches priced, 106 releases in 12 months
Lore-Rich + 2D$1,58448 launches priced, 110 releases in 12 months
Horror + Lore-Rich$1,57238 launches priced, 52 releases in 12 months
Exploration + Lore-Rich$1,49149 launches priced, 102 releases in 12 months

Every pair with Lore-Rich

Verdicts

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