Tag pairdata 30 Sep 2026
Niches / Visual Novel / 2D Platformer
Visual Novel + 2D Platformer: a typical launch earns $485 in its first year
That is the median of 59 indie paid launches, 2024 Q4 to 2025 Q3. 8 of 128 matured launches earned $100k or more, against 10.0 expected for their price and launch quarter. Releases rose 50% on the year before: 108 against 72.
- China market: over 35% of reviews are Chinese
- Price
- $485 median of 59 launches
- Price vs a year earlier
- −58.5% four quarters on the four before
- Releases, 12 months
- 108 72 the year before
- Upcoming games
- 236 coming soon on Steam
- Games on the store
- 605 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. | 0.08%share of upcoming wishlist heat | 0.05% to 0.12% | 13 ranked of 236 upcoming gameswishlist rank 30 Sep 2026 | #2,025 of 7,193pairs on this board |
Launch successLaunches earning $100k or more, against the number expected for their price tier and launch quarter.
| 0.84xhits against expected | 0.58x to 1.29x | 128 launchesindie paid launches 31 Mar 2024 to 1 Apr 2026 (6 to 30 months old) | #6,181 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
- 128
- Hit rate
- 6.3%2.3% to 10.5%
- Expected rate
- 7.8%
- Against expected
- 0.84x0.58x to 1.29x
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
128 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
- $485
- Top tenth
- $28,621
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
- +50%
Parent tags
- Visual NovelGenre pageRanked on every board, with its best pairs.
- 2D PlatformerGenre pageRanked on every board, with its best pairs.
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.
- Threefold Recital (opens the Steam store)2025 · 5,128 reviews, 98% positiveest. $916k
- Fate/hollow ataraxia REMASTERED (opens the Steam store)2025 · 953 reviews, 96% positiveest. $579k
- Kugayama Shiori's Death Diary (opens the Steam store)2026 · 996 reviews, 95% positiveest. $504k
- Kemono Teatime (opens the Steam store)2025 · 1,641 reviews, 95% positiveest. $432k
- AIR (opens the Steam store)2025 · 651 reviews, 98% positiveest. $395k
- Tsuki ni Yorisou Otome no Sahou 2 (opens the Steam store)2025 · 291 reviews, 96% positiveest. $236k
- Kanon (opens the Steam store)2024 · 379 reviews, 97% positiveest. $230k
- Stellar Code (opens the Steam store)2025 · 451 reviews, 97% positiveest. $228k
More with Visual Novel
pairs with Visual Novel- Visual Novel + FMV$65,06531 launches priced, 48 releases in 12 months
- Visual Novel + LGBTQ+$6,05083 launches priced, 159 releases in 12 months
- Visual Novel + Detective$5,29368 launches priced, 134 releases in 12 months
- Visual Novel + Investigation$4,88542 launches priced, 55 releases in 12 months
- Visual Novel + Immersive Sim$4,55364 launches priced, 115 releases in 12 months
- Visual Novel + Romance$3,639179 launches priced, 277 releases in 12 months
More with 2D Platformer
pairs with 2D Platformer- Metroidvania + 2D Platformer$1,78091 launches priced, 107 releases in 12 months
- Anime + 2D Platformer$1,17390 launches priced, 113 releases in 12 months
- 2D Platformer + Souls-like$96931 launches priced, 35 releases in 12 months
- Sci-fi + 2D Platformer$84935 launches priced, 59 releases in 12 months
- 2D Platformer + Female Protagonist$84281 launches priced, 102 releases in 12 months
- Hack and Slash + 2D Platformer$72841 launches priced, 55 releases in 12 months
Verdicts
in developmentGMD 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.