How Much Do Indie Games Make on Steam? (What Actually Reaches the Developer)
"My game sold 10,000 copies at $14.99" sounds like $150,000. It isn't. Between the price on the store page and the money in the developer's bank account sit several layers that rarely make it into social media posts.
The layers between gross and net
- Discounts and regional pricing. Most copies of most games are sold during sales, and Steam recommends lower prices in many countries. The average price actually paid ends up well below the base price.
- Sales tax and VAT. In many regions the price players see already includes tax, which goes to the government, not to you.
- Refunds and chargebacks. Players can request refunds, and a share of every launch comes back.
- Steam's revenue share. 30% by default, dropping to 25% on revenue above $10 million and 20% above $50 million for a title.
- Publisher share and income tax, if they apply to you.
A worked example
Take 10,000 copies at a $14.99 base price, with a 30% average reduction from sales and regional prices, 10% average VAT and 8% refunds. Running that through the Steam revenue calculator:
- List price × copies: $149,900
- After discounts and regional pricing: $104,930
- After VAT: $95,391
- After refunds: $87,760
- Steam's 30% cut: −$26,328
- Net to the developer, before income tax: about $61,432 — roughly 41% of the headline number, or $6.14 per copy
Your own assumptions will differ, so treat this as a starting point. The waterfall in the calculator shows which one moves your result the most.
How many copies will you sell?
Before launch, wishlists are the best predictor. Developers commonly see first-week sales somewhere around 5–20% of the wishlist count. After launch, you can estimate any game's lifetime sales by multiplying its review count by a factor, usually between 20 and 60 (the "Boxleiter method"). Both rules of thumb are built into the Steam sales estimator, with every ratio editable.
What this means for planning
- Plan your budget on the net figure, not the gross one.
- Run a conservative scenario. If it doesn't cover your costs, keep building wishlists before you launch.
- Remember the Steam Direct fee per game, which Valve says is recouped once a title reaches a set amount of revenue — check the current terms in the Steamworks documentation.