Tag pairdata 30 Sep 2026

Strategy + Colorful: a typical launch earns $506 in its first year

That is the median of 242 indie paid launches, 2024 Q4 to 2025 Q3. 16 of 461 matured launches earned $100k or more, against 24.0 expected for their price and launch quarter. Releases rose 43% on the year before: 415 against 291.

Price: $506
Price vs a year earlier: +108.6%
Releases, 12 months: 415
Upcoming games: 818
Games on the store: 2,350

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 + Colorful 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.	0.09%share of upcoming wishlist heat	0.07% to 0.11%	32 ranked of 818 upcoming gameswishlist rank 30 Sep 2026	#1,809 of 7,193pairs on this board
Launch successLaunches earning $100k or more, against the number expected for their price tier and launch quarter.	0.70xhits against expected	0.51x to 0.99x	461 launchesindie paid launches 31 Mar 2024 to 1 Apr 2026 (6 to 30 months old)	#4,713 of 6,324pairs on this board
Fewer new releasesFewer launches relative to players. Historically this did not predict better launches.	−13%player demand against new supply, relative to Steam	−27% to +1%	42 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025; releases 30 Sep 2025 to 30 Sep 2026 vs prior 12 months	#1,813 of 2,361pairs on this board
Rising demandGaining players faster than same-age games. Descriptive, not a launch signal.	−9%review growth against same-age games	−17% to 0%	42 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025	#1,216 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: 24.0

Launches: 461
Hit rate: 3.5%3.2% to 5.7%
Expected rate: 5.2%
Against expected: 0.70x0.51x to 0.99x

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

461 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: $364
Top tenth: $7,485

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: 415
Prior 12 months: 291

Change: +43%
Against Steam: +5%after Steam-wide growth, shrunk by 5 releases

Parent tags

StrategyGenre pageRanked on every board, with its best pairs.
ColorfulNot 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 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 Colorful

pairs with Colorful

Colorful + Cozy$3,63859 launches priced, 123 releases in 12 months
Story Rich + Colorful$3,39962 launches priced, 88 releases in 12 months
Visual Novel + Colorful$2,68975 launches priced, 112 releases in 12 months
Colorful + Emotional$2,00335 launches priced, 44 releases in 12 months
Colorful + Life Sim$1,85851 launches priced, 69 releases in 12 months
Magic + Colorful$1,66832 launches priced, 38 releases in 12 months

Every pair with Colorful

Verdicts

in development

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