Tag pairdata 30 Sep 2026

Strategy + Relaxing: a typical launch earns $178 in its first year

That is the median of 233 indie paid launches, 2024 Q4 to 2025 Q3. 22 of 463 matured launches earned $100k or more, against 15.5 expected for their price and launch quarter. Releases rose 54% on the year before: 390 against 253.

Price: $178
Price vs a year earlier: −41.2%
Releases, 12 months: 390
Upcoming games: 655
Games on the store: 2,122

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 + Relaxing 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.	0.18%share of upcoming wishlist heat	0.15% to 0.22%	37 ranked of 656 upcoming gameswishlist rank 30 Sep 2026	#1,131 of 7,193pairs on this board
Launch successLaunches earning $100k or more, against the number expected for their price tier and launch quarter.	1.35xhits against expected	1.00x to 1.83x	463 launchesindie paid launches 31 Mar 2024 to 1 Apr 2026 (6 to 30 months old)	#1,162 of 6,324pairs on this board
Fewer new releasesFewer launches relative to players. Historically this did not predict better launches.	−21%player demand against new supply, relative to Steam	−31% to −6%	43 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025; releases 30 Sep 2025 to 30 Sep 2026 vs prior 12 months	#2,009 of 2,361pairs on this board
Rising demandGaining players faster than same-age games. Descriptive, not a launch signal.	−10%review growth against same-age games	−18% to −2%	43 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025	#1,317 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: 22
Expected: 15.5

Launches: 463
Hit rate: 4.8%2.7% to 8.4%
Expected rate: 3.4%
Against expected: 1.35x1.00x to 1.83x

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

463 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: $243
Top tenth: $19,437

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: 390
Prior 12 months: 253

Change: +54%
Against Steam: +13%after Steam-wide growth, shrunk by 5 releases

Parent tags

StrategyGenre pageRanked on every board, with its best pairs.
RelaxingNot 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 Relaxing

pairs with Relaxing

Relaxing + Economy$7,82849 launches priced, 115 releases in 12 months
Relaxing + Open World$3,43945 launches priced, 56 releases in 12 months
Building + Relaxing$3,39787 launches priced, 134 releases in 12 months
Relaxing + Management$3,154101 launches priced, 233 releases in 12 months
Relaxing + Farming Sim$2,87450 launches priced, 106 releases in 12 months
Relaxing + Crafting$2,42950 launches priced, 83 releases in 12 months

Every pair with Relaxing

Verdicts

in development

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