Tag pairdata 30 Sep 2026

Visual Novel + Immersive Sim: a typical launch earns $4,553 in its first year

That is the median of 64 indie paid launches, 2024 Q4 to 2025 Q3. 24 of 137 matured launches earned $100k or more, against 10.4 expected for their price and launch quarter. Releases rose 49% on the year before: 115 against 77.

China market: over 35% of reviews are Chinese

Price: $4,553
Price vs a year earlier: −27.8%
Releases, 12 months: 115
Upcoming games: 207
Games on the store: 562

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.

Visual Novel + Immersive Sim 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.	0.13%share of upcoming wishlist heat	0.09% to 0.18%	21 ranked of 207 upcoming gameswishlist rank 30 Sep 2026	#1,451 of 7,193pairs on this board
Launch successLaunches earning $100k or more, against the number expected for their price tier and launch quarter. China market: over 35% of reviews are Chinese Listed after unflagged rows on this board	2.02xhits against expected	1.54x to 2.63x	137 launchesindie paid launches 31 Mar 2024 to 1 Apr 2026 (6 to 30 months old)	#5,829 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 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: 24
Expected: 10.4

Launches: 137
Hit rate: 17.5%10.4% to 25.6%
Expected rate: 7.6%
Against expected: 2.02x1.54x to 2.63x

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

137 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: $81
Median: $4,737
Top tenth: $216,828

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: 115
Prior 12 months: 77

Change: +49%

Parent tags

Visual NovelGenre pageRanked on every board, with its best pairs.
Immersive SimGenre pageRanked on every board, with its best 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 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 + Romance$3,639179 launches priced, 277 releases in 12 months
Visual Novel + First-Person$3,50754 launches priced, 104 releases in 12 months

Every pair with Visual Novel

More with Immersive Sim

pairs with Immersive Sim

Cinematic + Immersive Sim$24,23132 launches priced, 35 releases in 12 months
Capitalism + Immersive Sim$16,42037 launches priced, 52 releases in 12 months
Multiplayer + Immersive Sim$15,00039 launches priced, 38 releases in 12 months
Economy + Immersive Sim$14,95288 launches priced, 116 releases in 12 months
Immersive Sim + Management$8,720136 launches priced, 195 releases in 12 months
Building + Immersive Sim$7,64451 launches priced, 53 releases in 12 months

Every pair with Immersive Sim

Verdicts

in development

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