Tag pairdata 30 Sep 2026
Strategy + Word Game: a typical launch earns $611 in its first year
That is the median of 36 indie paid launches, 2024 Q4 to 2025 Q3. 1 of 76 matured launches earned $100k or more, against 2.6 expected for their price and launch quarter. Releases rose 77% on the year before: 78 against 44.
- One game dominates the figure
- Price
- $611 median of 36 launches
- Price vs a year earlier
- +52.8% four quarters on the four before
- Releases, 12 months
- 78 44 the year before
- Upcoming games
- 113 coming soon on Steam
- Games on the store
- 361 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. | Below this board's minimum sample, so not ranked. Needs 5 or more wishlist-ranked upcoming games. | |||
Launch successLaunches earning $100k or more, against the number expected for their price tier and launch quarter.
| 0.71xhits against expected | 0.57x to 1.30x | 76 launchesindie paid launches 31 Mar 2024 to 1 Apr 2026 (6 to 30 months old) | #4,670 of 6,324pairs on this board |
| Fewer new releasesFewer launches relative to players. Historically this did not predict better launches. | Below this board's minimum sample, so not ranked. Needs 15 or more tracked games and 20 or more releases in each 12-month period. | |||
| Rising demandGaining players faster than same-age games. Descriptive, not a launch signal. | Below this board's minimum sample, so not ranked. Needs 15 or more tracked games and 1,000 reviews in each window. | |||
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
- 76
- Hit rate
- 1.3%0.0% to 4.9%
- Expected rate
- 3.5%
- Against expected
- 0.71x0.57x to 1.30x
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
76 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
- $452
- Top tenth
- $24,261
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
- +77%
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.
- Pronoun Palace (opens the Steam store)2026 · 1,299 reviews, 99% positiveest. $522k
- DEATH NOTE Killer Within (opens the Steam store)2024 · 2,324 reviews, 84% positiveest. $470k
- Cursed Words: The Word Game That Isn't (opens the Steam store)2026 · 710 reviews, 95% positiveest. $216k
- Turlock Holmes (opens the Steam store)2024 · 899 reviews, 80% positiveest. $182k
- Wordatro! (opens the Steam store)2025 · 401 reviews, 85% positiveest. $81k
- The Jackbox Survey Scramble (opens the Steam store)2024 · 319 reviews, 90% positiveest. $65k
- The Eastern Sacrifice (opens the Steam store)2025 · 355 reviews, 55% positiveest. $39k
- 小小侠客模拟器 (opens the Steam store)2025 · 1,104 reviews, 86% positiveest. $37k
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 Word Game
pairs with Word Game- Cute + Word Game$1,78831 launches priced, 59 releases in 12 months
- Visual Novel + Word Game$88759 launches priced, 112 releases in 12 months
- Word Game + Spelling$84833 launches priced, 58 releases in 12 months
- Interactive Fiction + Word Game$79046 launches priced, 89 releases in 12 months
- RPG + Word Game$77068 launches priced, 119 releases in 12 months
- Adventure + Word Game$73147 launches priced, 65 releases in 12 months
Verdicts
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