Tag pairdata 30 Sep 2026

Strategy + Colony Sim: a typical launch earns $2,428 in its first year

That is the median of 72 indie paid launches, 2024 Q4 to 2025 Q3. 34 of 150 matured launches earned $100k or more, against 21.9 expected for their price and launch quarter. Releases rose 61% on the year before: 124 against 77.

Price: $2,428
Price vs a year earlier: −87.1%
Releases, 12 months: 124
Upcoming games: 598
Games on the store: 1,170

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.

Strategy + Colony 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.	0.99%share of upcoming wishlist heat	0.69% to 1.36%	82 ranked of 598 upcoming gameswishlist rank 30 Sep 2026	#229 of 7,193pairs on this board
Launch successLaunches earning $100k or more, against the number expected for their price tier and launch quarter.	1.49xhits against expected	1.18x to 1.85x	150 launchesindie paid launches 31 Mar 2024 to 1 Apr 2026 (6 to 30 months old)	#769 of 6,324pairs on this board
Fewer new releasesFewer launches relative to players. Historically this did not predict better launches.	−9%player demand against new supply, relative to Steam	−25% to +17%	82 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025; releases 30 Sep 2025 to 30 Sep 2026 vs prior 12 months	#1,717 of 2,361pairs on this board
Rising demandGaining players faster than same-age games. Descriptive, not a launch signal.	+5%review growth against same-age games	−6% to +17%	82 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025	#554 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: 21.9

Launches: 150
Hit rate: 22.7%15.1% to 32.4%
Expected rate: 14.6%
Against expected: 1.49x1.18x to 1.85x

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

150 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: $2,660
Top tenth: $555,319

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: 124
Prior 12 months: 77

Change: +61%
Against Steam: +16%after Steam-wide growth, shrunk by 5 releases

Parent tags

StrategyGenre pageRanked on every board, with its best pairs.
Colony 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 Strategy

pairs with Strategy

Strategy + Roguelike Deckbuilder$8,599104 launches priced, 217 releases in 12 months
Strategy + Base Building$6,139160 launches priced, 260 releases in 12 months
Strategy + Turn-Based$5,85566 launches priced, 104 releases in 12 months
Strategy + Historical$4,25980 launches priced, 157 releases in 12 months
Strategy + Party-Based RPG$3,88255 launches priced, 102 releases in 12 months
Strategy + Story Rich$3,64284 launches priced, 149 releases in 12 months

Every pair with Strategy

More with Colony Sim

pairs with Colony Sim

Base Building + Colony Sim$22,86553 launches priced, 64 releases in 12 months
Management + Colony Sim$15,78739 launches priced, 61 releases in 12 months
Building + Colony Sim$11,53947 launches priced, 44 releases in 12 months
Sandbox + Colony Sim$10,01834 launches priced, 53 releases in 12 months
Survival + Colony Sim$9,88130 launches priced, 35 releases in 12 months
City Builder + Colony Sim$5,26265 launches priced, 78 releases in 12 months

Every pair with Colony Sim

Verdicts

in development

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