Tag pairdata 30 Sep 2026
Strategy + God Game: a typical launch earns $300 in its first year
That is the median of 31 indie paid launches, 2024 Q4 to 2025 Q3. 5 of 69 matured launches earned $100k or more, against 6.5 expected for their price and launch quarter. Releases rose 26% on the year before: 53 against 42.
- Big publishers: over 85% from majors or $40+ games
- Price
- $300 median of 31 launches
- Price vs a year earlier
- −25.7% four quarters on the four before
- Releases, 12 months
- 53 42 the year before
- Upcoming games
- 142 coming soon on Steam
- Games on the store
- 430 carrying both tags
Boards
as of 30 Sep 2026Where this pair stands on each board of the front page. Every value carries its 90% interval and its sample.
| Board | Value | Interval | Sample | Standing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Most anticipatedShare of all upcoming wishlist heat on Steam, with the number of upcoming games beside it. | 0.08%share of upcoming wishlist heat | 0.05% to 0.12% | 16 ranked of 142 upcoming gameswishlist rank 30 Sep 2026 | #2,021 of 7,193pairs on this board |
Launch successLaunches earning $100k or more, against the number expected for their price tier and launch quarter.
| 0.84xhits against expected | 0.57x to 1.34x | 69 launchesindie paid launches 31 Mar 2024 to 1 Apr 2026 (6 to 30 months old) | #3,847 of 6,324pairs on this board |
| Fewer new releasesFewer launches relative to players. Historically this did not predict better launches. | +17%player demand against new supply, relative to Steam | −21% to +66% | 17 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025; releases 30 Sep 2025 to 30 Sep 2026 vs prior 12 months | #858 of 2,361pairs on this board |
| Rising demandGaining players faster than same-age games. Descriptive, not a launch signal. | +6%review growth against same-age games | −2% to +18% | 17 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025 | #504 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 oldMatured indie paid launches that earned an estimated $100k or more, against the number expected for games at the same price tier and launch quarter.
- Launches
- 69
- Hit rate
- 7.2%4.6% to 16.9%
- Expected rate
- 9.5%
- Against expected
- 0.84x0.57x to 1.34x
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
69 launchesEstimated 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
- $545
- Top tenth
- $78,276
Estimated from Steam review counts. Lifetime to date, so it differs from the first-year price above.
Supply
raw release countsGames released with both tags, last 12 months against the 12 before.
- Change
- +26%
- Against Steam
- −9%after Steam-wide growth, shrunk by 5 releases
Parent tags
Comparable games
8 indie titlesThe 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.
- Reus 2 (opens the Steam store)2024 · 2,153 reviews, 94% positiveest. $1M
- Sintopia (opens the Steam store)2026 · 960 reviews, 80% positiveest. $680k
- Microcivilization (opens the Steam store)2023 · 1,437 reviews, 78% positiveest. $523k
- Gold Gold Adventure Gold (opens the Steam store)2025 · 915 reviews, 70% positiveest. $463k
- Masters of Albion (opens the Steam store)2026 · 610 reviews, 64% positiveest. $309k
- Fata Deum - The God Sim (opens the Steam store)2025 · 412 reviews, 59% positiveest. $250k
- Planetary Life (opens the Steam store)2025 · 922 reviews, 94% positiveest. $224k
- Doodle Empires (opens the Steam store)2025 · 1,291 reviews, 92% positiveest. $183k
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
More with God Game
pairs with God Game- 2D + God Game$38131 launches priced, 39 releases in 12 months
- Simulation + God Game$30363 launches priced, 83 releases in 12 months
- Casual + God Game$26153 launches priced, 53 releases in 12 months
- Sandbox + God Gameno price45 releases in 12 months
- God Game + Idlerno price43 releases in 12 months
- God Game + Incrementalno price34 releases in 12 months
Verdicts
in developmentGMD Verdicts will be a written read on a niche, built from the same data and the published method on this site. Join the early list and we will email you when the first ones are ready. Nothing on this page is held back while you wait.