Tag pairdata 30 Sep 2026

Story Rich + Psychological: a typical launch earns $1,576 in its first year

That is the median of 70 indie paid launches, 2024 Q4 to 2025 Q3. 16 of 143 matured launches earned $100k or more, against 9.4 expected for their price and launch quarter. Releases rose 45% on the year before: 122 against 84.

Price: $1,576
Price vs a year earlier: −70.3%
Releases, 12 months: 122
Upcoming games: 368
Games on the store: 803

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 + Psychological 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.	0.28%share of upcoming wishlist heat	0.13% to 0.47%	27 ranked of 368 upcoming gameswishlist rank 30 Sep 2026	#820 of 7,193pairs on this board
Launch successLaunches earning $100k or more, against the number expected for their price tier and launch quarter.	1.54xhits against expected	1.12x to 2.12x	143 launchesindie paid launches 31 Mar 2024 to 1 Apr 2026 (6 to 30 months old)	#651 of 6,324pairs on this board
Fewer new releasesFewer launches relative to players. Historically this did not predict better launches.	+6%player demand against new supply, relative to Steam	−17% to +36%	52 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025; releases 30 Sep 2025 to 30 Sep 2026 vs prior 12 months	#1,248 of 2,361pairs on this board
Rising demandGaining players faster than same-age games. Descriptive, not a launch signal.	+11%review growth against same-age games	+3% to +19%	52 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025	#240 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: 16
Expected: 9.4

Launches: 143
Hit rate: 11.2%5.8% to 14.9%
Expected rate: 6.6%
Against expected: 1.54x1.12x to 2.12x

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: $161
Median: $1,816
Top tenth: $127,718

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: 122
Prior 12 months: 84

Change: +45%
Against Steam: +5%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.
PsychologicalNot 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 Psychological

pairs with Psychological

Psychological + Walking Simulator$1,81661 launches priced, 78 releases in 12 months
Surreal + Psychological$1,78330 launches priced, 41 releases in 12 months
Psychological + Multiple Endings$1,45530 launches priced, 59 releases in 12 months
Thriller + Psychological$1,37437 launches priced, 52 releases in 12 months
Psychological Horror + Psychological$1,354130 launches priced, 188 releases in 12 months
Horror + Psychological$1,333121 launches priced, 186 releases in 12 months

Every pair with Psychological

Verdicts

in development

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