Tag pairdata 30 Sep 2026

Visual Novel + Word Game: a typical launch earns $887 in its first year

That is the median of 59 indie paid launches, 2024 Q4 to 2025 Q3. 4 of 133 matured launches earned $100k or more, against 4.6 expected for their price and launch quarter. Releases rose 58% on the year before: 112 against 71.

China market: over 35% of reviews are Chinese

Price: $887
Price vs a year earlier: +115.3%
Releases, 12 months: 112
Upcoming games: 256
Games on the store: 653

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 + Word Game 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. China market: over 35% of reviews are Chinese	0.08%share of upcoming wishlist heat	0.07% to 0.10%	24 ranked of 256 upcoming gameswishlist rank 30 Sep 2026	#1,967 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	0.92xhits against expected	0.63x to 1.54x	133 launchesindie paid launches 31 Mar 2024 to 1 Apr 2026 (6 to 30 months old)	#6,125 of 6,324pairs on this board
Fewer new releasesFewer launches relative to players. Historically this did not predict better launches. China market: over 35% of reviews are Chinese	−23%player demand against new supply, relative to Steam	−39% to 0%	44 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025; releases 30 Sep 2025 to 30 Sep 2026 vs prior 12 months	#2,054 of 2,361pairs on this board
Rising demandGaining players faster than same-age games. Descriptive, not a launch signal. China market: over 35% of reviews are Chinese	−13%review growth against same-age games	−22% to −2%	44 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025	#1,394 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: 4
Expected: 4.6

Launches: 133
Hit rate: 3.0%2.0% to 7.7%
Expected rate: 3.5%
Against expected: 0.92x0.63x to 1.54x

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

133 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: $20
Median: $889
Top tenth: $31,253

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: 112
Prior 12 months: 71

Change: +58%
Against Steam: +14%after Steam-wide growth, shrunk by 5 releases

Parent tags

Visual NovelGenre pageRanked on every board, with its best pairs.
Word GameGenre 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 + 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 Word Game

pairs with Word Game

Cute + Word Game$1,78831 launches priced, 59 releases in 12 months
Word Game + Spelling$84833 launches priced, 58 releases in 12 months
Interactive Fiction + Word Game$79046 launches priced, 89 releases in 12 months
RPG + Word Game$77068 launches priced, 119 releases in 12 months
Adventure + Word Game$73147 launches priced, 65 releases in 12 months
Typing + Word Game$63638 launches priced, 72 releases in 12 months

Every pair with Word Game

Verdicts

in development

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