Tag pairdata 30 Sep 2026

Strategy + Dark Fantasy: a typical launch earns $809 in its first year

That is the median of 43 indie paid launches, 2024 Q4 to 2025 Q3. 10 of 125 matured launches earned $100k or more, against 9.3 expected for their price and launch quarter. Releases rose 200% on the year before: 156 against 52.

Price: $809
Price vs a year earlier: 0%
Releases, 12 months: 156
Upcoming games: 422
Games on the store: 802

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 + Dark Fantasy 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. One game dominates the figure Listed after unflagged rows on this board	1.29%share of upcoming wishlist heat	0.20% to 2.39%	28 ranked of 422 upcoming gameswishlist rank 30 Sep 2026	#4,202 of 7,193pairs on this board
Launch successLaunches earning $100k or more, against the number expected for their price tier and launch quarter.	1.06xhits against expected	0.74x to 1.56x	125 launchesindie paid launches 31 Mar 2024 to 1 Apr 2026 (6 to 30 months old)	#2,442 of 6,324pairs on this board
Fewer new releasesFewer launches relative to players. Historically this did not predict better launches.	−58%player demand against new supply, relative to Steam	−67% to −46%	21 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025; releases 30 Sep 2025 to 30 Sep 2026 vs prior 12 months	#2,338 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	−20% to −2%	21 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025	#1,353 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: 10
Expected: 9.3

Launches: 125
Hit rate: 8.0%5.0% to 14.6%
Expected rate: 7.4%
Against expected: 1.06x0.74x to 1.56x

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

125 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: $722
Top tenth: $73,435

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: 156
Prior 12 months: 52

Change: +200%
Against Steam: +109%after Steam-wide growth, shrunk by 5 releases

Parent tags

StrategyGenre pageRanked on every board, with its best pairs.
Dark FantasyNot 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 Dark Fantasy

pairs with Dark Fantasy

Dark Fantasy + Action Roguelike$4,04545 launches priced, 85 releases in 12 months
Hack and Slash + Dark Fantasy$3,96244 launches priced, 67 releases in 12 months
Action-Adventure + Dark Fantasy$3,09649 launches priced, 105 releases in 12 months
Roguelite + Dark Fantasy$3,01348 launches priced, 122 releases in 12 months
Adventure + Dark Fantasy$2,83293 launches priced, 207 releases in 12 months
Action RPG + Dark Fantasy$2,34646 launches priced, 94 releases in 12 months

Every pair with Dark Fantasy

Verdicts

in development

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