Tag pairdata 30 Sep 2026

Trading + Economy: a typical launch earns $24,398 in its first year

That is the median of 44 indie paid launches, 2024 Q4 to 2025 Q3. 17 of 88 matured launches earned $100k or more, against 10.1 expected for their price and launch quarter. Releases rose 88% on the year before: 105 against 56.

Price: $24,398
Price vs a year earlier: −11.8%
Releases, 12 months: 105
Upcoming games: 247
Games on the store: 529

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.

Trading + Economy 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. One game dominates the figure Listed after unflagged rows on this board	0.24%share of upcoming wishlist heat	0.08% to 0.42%	16 ranked of 247 upcoming gameswishlist rank 30 Sep 2026	#4,906 of 7,193pairs on this board
Launch successLaunches earning $100k or more, against the number expected for their price tier and launch quarter.	1.53xhits against expected	1.13x to 2.06x	88 launchesindie paid launches 31 Mar 2024 to 1 Apr 2026 (6 to 30 months old)	#660 of 6,324pairs on this board
Fewer new releasesFewer launches relative to players. Historically this did not predict better launches. One game dominates the figure	−26%player demand against new supply, relative to Steam	−39% to −11%	33 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025; releases 30 Sep 2025 to 30 Sep 2026 vs prior 12 months	#2,106 of 2,361pairs on this board
Rising demandGaining players faster than same-age games. Descriptive, not a launch signal. One game dominates the figure Listed after unflagged rows on this board	−1%review growth against same-age games	−11% to +7%	33 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025	#2,047 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: 17
Expected: 10.1

Launches: 88
Hit rate: 19.3%9.6% to 29.6%
Expected rate: 11.4%
Against expected: 1.53x1.13x to 2.06x

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

88 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: $485
Median: $8,397
Top tenth: $323,899

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: 105
Prior 12 months: 56

Change: +88%
Against Steam: +33%after Steam-wide growth, shrunk by 5 releases

Parent tags

TradingGenre pageRanked on every board, with its best pairs.
EconomyNot 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 Trading

pairs with Trading

Trading + Management$22,06052 launches priced, 89 releases in 12 months
Simulation + Trading$5,23950 launches priced, 127 releases in 12 months
Strategy + Tradingno price63 releases in 12 months
Casual + Tradingno price61 releases in 12 months
Trading + Life Simno price43 releases in 12 months
Trading + Resource Managementno price42 releases in 12 months

Every pair with Trading

More with Economy

pairs with Economy

Sandbox + Economy$15,26966 launches priced, 136 releases in 12 months
Economy + Shop Keeper$15,12233 launches priced, 133 releases in 12 months
Economy + Life Sim$15,00083 launches priced, 128 releases in 12 months
Economy + Immersive Sim$14,95288 launches priced, 116 releases in 12 months
Realistic + Economy$10,95531 launches priced, 37 releases in 12 months
First-Person + Economy$9,96156 launches priced, 91 releases in 12 months

Every pair with Economy

Verdicts

in development

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