Tag pairdata 30 Sep 2026

Visual Novel + Text-Based: a typical launch earns $1,012 in its first year

That is the median of 149 indie paid launches, 2024 Q4 to 2025 Q3. 7 of 327 matured launches earned $100k or more, against 26.1 expected for their price and launch quarter. Releases rose 45% on the year before: 273 against 188.

Price: $1,012
Price vs a year earlier: +4.2%
Releases, 12 months: 273
Upcoming games: 417
Games on the store: 1,370

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 + Text-Based 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.	0.07%share of upcoming wishlist heat	0.05% to 0.08%	25 ranked of 417 upcoming gameswishlist rank 30 Sep 2026	#2,220 of 7,193pairs on this board
Launch successLaunches earning $100k or more, against the number expected for their price tier and launch quarter.	0.34xhits against expected	0.23x to 0.54x	327 launchesindie paid launches 31 Mar 2024 to 1 Apr 2026 (6 to 30 months old)	#5,781 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	−7%player demand against new supply, relative to Steam	−22% to +9%	62 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025; releases 30 Sep 2025 to 30 Sep 2026 vs prior 12 months	#1,636 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	0%review growth against same-age games	−12% to +13%	62 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025	#1,991 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: 7
Expected: 26.1

Launches: 327
Hit rate: 2.1%1.0% to 5.4%
Expected rate: 8.0%
Against expected: 0.34x0.23x to 0.54x

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

327 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: $728
Top tenth: $18,917

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: 273
Prior 12 months: 188

Change: +45%
Against Steam: +7%after Steam-wide growth, shrunk by 5 releases

Parent tags

Visual NovelGenre pageRanked on every board, with its best pairs.
Text-BasedNot 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 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

Every pair with Visual Novel

More with Text-Based

pairs with Text-Based

Horror + Text-Based$2,83130 launches priced, 65 releases in 12 months
Anime + Text-Based$2,10148 launches priced, 70 releases in 12 months
Story Rich + Text-Based$1,71867 launches priced, 149 releases in 12 months
Cute + Text-Based$1,36644 launches priced, 69 releases in 12 months
Choices Matter + Text-Based$1,20374 launches priced, 137 releases in 12 months
Interactive Fiction + Text-Based$1,13396 launches priced, 190 releases in 12 months

Every pair with Text-Based

Verdicts

in development

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