Tag pairdata 30 Sep 2026
Survival + Sandbox: a typical launch earns $2,902 in its first year
That is the median of 62 indie paid launches, 2024 Q4 to 2025 Q3. 29 of 122 matured launches earned $100k or more, against 15.3 expected for their price and launch quarter. Releases rose 55% on the year before: 104 against 67.
- Price
- $2,902 median of 62 launches
- Price vs a year earlier
- −7.7% four quarters on the four before
- Releases, 12 months
- 104 67 the year before
- Upcoming games
- 556 coming soon on Steam
- Games on the store
- 1,232 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.
| 5.34%share of upcoming wishlist heat | 1.53% to 11.44% | 125 ranked of 556 upcoming gameswishlist rank 30 Sep 2026 | #3,884 of 7,193pairs on this board |
| Launch successLaunches earning $100k or more, against the number expected for their price tier and launch quarter. | 1.74xhits against expected | 1.36x to 2.20x | 122 launchesindie paid launches 31 Mar 2024 to 1 Apr 2026 (6 to 30 months old) | #336 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 | −36% to +6% | 70 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025; releases 30 Sep 2025 to 30 Sep 2026 vs prior 12 months | #1,926 of 2,361pairs on this board |
| Rising demandGaining players faster than same-age games. Descriptive, not a launch signal. | −8%review growth against same-age games | −21% to +7% | 70 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025 | #1,155 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
- 122
- Hit rate
- 23.8%16.8% to 33.4%
- Expected rate
- 12.6%
- Against expected
- 1.74x1.36x to 2.20x
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
122 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
- $101
- Median
- $4,092
- Top tenth
- $569,520
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
- +55%
- Against Steam
- +12%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.
Soulmask (opens the Steam store)2026 · 18,501 reviews, 76% positiveest. $10M
The Last Caretaker (opens the Steam store)2025 · 13,344 reviews, 86% positiveest. $9.4M
ASKA (opens the Steam store)2024 · 10,509 reviews, 79% positiveest. $5.2M
VEIN (opens the Steam store)2025 · 11,699 reviews, 87% positiveest. $4.7M
The Front (opens the Steam store)2023 · 9,544 reviews, 66% positiveest. $3.5M
Space Engineers 2 (opens the Steam store)2025 · 5,166 reviews, 74% positiveest. $3.1M
Solarpunk™ (opens the Steam store)2026 · 3,550 reviews, 81% positiveest. $1.7M
Sandustry (opens the Steam store)2026 · 4,980 reviews, 97% positiveest. $1.5M
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 Sandbox
pairs with Sandbox- Sandbox + Multiplayer$32,53338 launches priced, 71 releases in 12 months
- Sandbox + Resource Management$18,39749 launches priced, 96 releases in 12 months
- Sandbox + Economy$15,26966 launches priced, 136 releases in 12 months
- Sandbox + Management$11,910116 launches priced, 204 releases in 12 months
- Sandbox + City Builder$11,53977 launches priced, 92 releases in 12 months
- Sandbox + Colony Sim$10,01834 launches priced, 53 releases in 12 months
Verdicts
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