How the estimate works
Copies sold from review count
Steam doesn't publish sales numbers, but it does publish review counts. Only a small, fairly steady share of buyers leave a review, so multiplying reviews by a sales-per-review ratio gives a rough sales estimate. This is often called the Boxleiter method, after the developer who first published the ratio.
Early estimates put the ratio at 50 to 60 sales per review. More recent analyses of newer releases tend to land closer to 20 to 40. The calculator shows a low, typical, and high estimate (20, 30, and 50 by default) because any single number would be overly precise. Change them if you know your genre runs higher or lower.
From gross revenue to what the developer keeps
Copies sold times the base price is the gross at full price, but few copies sell at full price. Seasonal sales, bundles, and lower regional prices in many countries pull the average price down, which the average discount covers.
Steam refunds any purchase played for under two hours and requested within 14 days, so a share of sales comes back. Prices in many regions include VAT, and Valve collects US sales tax on top, so part of what players pay never reaches the developer either.
Steam's cut
Valve keeps 30% of a game's revenue up to $10 million, 25% of the revenue between $10 million and $50 million, and 20% of everything past $50 million. The calculator applies those tiers to the revenue left after discounts, refunds, and taxes.
What's left is roughly what the developer receives before their own income tax, publisher share, or platform costs.
For what counts toward each tier, what comes out before Valve's share, and Steam's average cut, read how much Steam takes from sales.
Frequently asked questions
How many copies has a Steam game sold?
Valve doesn't publish sales, so outside estimates start from the review count. Multiply a game's total reviews by 20 to 50 to get a likely range of copies sold. A game with 1,000 reviews has probably sold somewhere between 20,000 and 50,000 copies.
How much does Steam take from each sale?
Steam takes 30% of a game's revenue up to $10 million, 25% between $10 million and $50 million, and 20% beyond $50 million. The developer gets the rest, after refunds and taxes.
How accurate is a review-based sales estimate?
It's a ballpark. The sales-per-review ratio varies by genre, price, audience, and how long a game has been out, so treat the low and high estimates as the realistic range rather than trusting one number.
Is the Steam revenue calculator free?
Yes. It's free to use without an account. It's made by Game Stats AI, a game analytics platform that tracks your game's real revenue and player data.