Turn-Based Strategy + Character Customization: a typical launch earns $546 in its first year

That is the median of 30 indie paid launches, 2024 Q4 to 2025 Q3. 9 of 53 matured launches earned $100k or more, against 6.2 expected for their price and launch quarter. Releases fell 9% on the year before: 30 against 33.

Price: $546
Price vs a year earlier: −89.6%
Releases, 12 months: 30
Upcoming games: 110
Games on the store: 294

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.

Turn-Based Strategy + Character Customization 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.	0.17%share of upcoming wishlist heat	0.08% to 0.26%	16 ranked of 110 upcoming gameswishlist rank 30 Sep 2026	#1,210 of 7,193pairs on this board
Launch successLaunches earning $100k or more, against the number expected for their price tier and launch quarter.	1.31xhits against expected	0.92x to 1.89x	53 launchesindie paid launches 31 Mar 2024 to 1 Apr 2026 (6 to 30 months old)	#1,311 of 6,324pairs on this board
Fewer new releasesFewer launches relative to players. Historically this did not predict better launches.	+59%player demand against new supply, relative to Steam	−1% to +143%	26 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025; releases 30 Sep 2025 to 30 Sep 2026 vs prior 12 months	#111 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	−4% to +20%	26 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025	#401 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: 9
Expected: 6.2

Launches: 53
Hit rate: 17.0%9.6% to 26.2%
Expected rate: 11.6%
Against expected: 1.31x0.92x to 1.89x

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

53 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: $2,315
Top tenth: $258,276

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: 30
Prior 12 months: 33

Change: −9%
Against Steam: −32%after Steam-wide growth, shrunk by 5 releases

Parent tags

Turn-Based StrategyGenre pageRanked on every board, with its best pairs.
Character CustomizationNot 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 Turn-Based Strategy

pairs with Turn-Based Strategy

Turn-Based Strategy + Story Rich$8,09741 launches priced, 43 releases in 12 months
Turn-Based Strategy + Roguelike Deckbuilder$7,14342 launches priced, 61 releases in 12 months
Turn-Based + Turn-Based Strategy$5,79134 launches priced, 60 releases in 12 months
Turn-Based Strategy + Historical$4,04836 launches priced, 59 releases in 12 months
War + Turn-Based Strategy$3,84640 launches priced, 49 releases in 12 months
Turn-Based Strategy + Deckbuilding$3,05388 launches priced, 169 releases in 12 months

Every pair with Turn-Based Strategy

More with Character Customization

pairs with Character Customization

Open World + Character Customization$4,55339 launches priced, 39 releases in 12 months
Sandbox + Character Customization$4,44639 launches priced, 55 releases in 12 months
Dungeon Crawler + Character Customization$3,45838 launches priced, 51 releases in 12 months
Character Customization + Choices Matter$3,15735 launches priced, 42 releases in 12 months
Choose Your Own Adventure + Character Customization$2,97334 launches priced, 26 releases in 12 months
RPG + Character Customization$2,832132 launches priced, 170 releases in 12 months

Every pair with Character Customization

Verdicts

in development

GMD Verdicts will be a written read on a niche, built from the same data and the published method on this site. Join the early list and we will email you when the first ones are ready. Nothing on this page is held back while you wait.