Tag pairdata 30 Sep 2026
Survival + PvE: a typical launch earns $789 in its first year
That is the median of 49 indie paid launches, 2024 Q4 to 2025 Q3. 11 of 101 matured launches earned $100k or more, against 6.9 expected for their price and launch quarter. Releases rose 62% on the year before: 94 against 58.
- Big publishers: over 85% from majors or $40+ games
- Price
- $789 median of 49 launches
- Price vs a year earlier
- −35.0% four quarters on the four before
- Releases, 12 months
- 94 58 the year before
- Upcoming games
- 331 coming soon on Steam
- Games on the store
- 662 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. | 0.92%share of upcoming wishlist heat | 0.41% to 1.54% | 49 ranked of 331 upcoming gameswishlist rank 30 Sep 2026 | #246 of 7,193pairs on this board |
Launch successLaunches earning $100k or more, against the number expected for their price tier and launch quarter.
| 1.42xhits against expected | 1.00x to 2.05x | 101 launchesindie paid launches 31 Mar 2024 to 1 Apr 2026 (6 to 30 months old) | #931 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 | −40% to +17% | 25 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025; releases 30 Sep 2025 to 30 Sep 2026 vs prior 12 months | #1,919 of 2,361pairs on this board |
| Rising demandGaining players faster than same-age games. Descriptive, not a launch signal. | −3%review growth against same-age games | −14% to +8% | 25 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025 | #959 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
- 101
- Hit rate
- 10.9%4.3% to 16.6%
- Expected rate
- 6.8%
- Against expected
- 1.42x1.00x to 2.05x
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
101 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
- $809
- Top tenth
- $117,796
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
- +62%
- Against Steam
- +16%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.
- Windrose (opens the Steam store)2026 · 48,129 reviews, 86% positiveest. $29M
- Soulmask (opens the Steam store)2026 · 18,501 reviews, 76% positiveest. $10M
- MISERY (opens the Steam store)2025 · 20,143 reviews, 85% positiveest. $5.2M
- Road to Vostok (opens the Steam store)2026 · 8,714 reviews, 84% positiveest. $3.5M
- EverSiege: Untold Ages (opens the Steam store)2026 · 1,923 reviews, 68% positiveest. $778k
- Lost Rift (opens the Steam store)2025 · 1,470 reviews, 67% positiveest. $744k
- Dawn of Defiance (opens the Steam store)2024 · 1,737 reviews, 77% positiveest. $703k
- LET IT DIE: INFERNO (opens the Steam store)2025 · 794 reviews, 52% positiveest. $402k
More with Survival
pairs with Survival- Survival + Open World Survival Craft$18,44140 launches priced, 51 releases in 12 months
- Survival + Colony Sim$9,88130 launches priced, 35 releases in 12 months
- Survival + Co-op$7,36134 launches priced, 70 releases in 12 months
- Survival + Base Building$6,75592 launches priced, 113 releases in 12 months
- Survival + Open World$5,44390 launches priced, 136 releases in 12 months
- Building + Survival$4,85567 launches priced, 100 releases in 12 months
More with PvE
pairs with PvE- Co-op + PvE$16,63155 launches priced, 88 releases in 12 months
- Online Co-Op + PvE$5,26063 launches priced, 100 releases in 12 months
- Multiplayer + PvE$2,00370 launches priced, 120 releases in 12 months
- PvE + Deckbuilding$1,11233 launches priced, 40 releases in 12 months
- Dungeon Crawler + PvE$1,06262 launches priced, 97 releases in 12 months
- Hack and Slash + PvE$1,06166 launches priced, 101 releases in 12 months
Verdicts
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