Steam Revenue Calculator

A game's "gross revenue" on SteamDB or in a headline is almost never what the developer banks. Four things come off first: discounts and regional pricing, refunds, VAT and sales tax (Steam prices in the EU and UK include tax), and Valve's revenue share. What's left goes to the publisher if there is one, and then the developer pays income tax.

Valve's share has been tiered since October 2018: 30% of a game's revenue up to $10 million, 25% from $10 million to $50 million, and 20% above $50 million. Almost every indie game stays in the 30% tier for its whole life, so a useful rule of thumb is that a self-published developer receives 50–60% of "copies × price".

Worked example: 10,000 copies of a $19.99 game is $199,900 gross. With a 25% average price reduction, 10% refunds and 10% tax that becomes about $121,400 of net sales, Steam keeps about $36,400, and the developer receives about $85,000, roughly $8.50 per copy.

Steam doesn't publish sales, so the industry estimates them from the public review count. The "Boxleiter number", named after Mike Boxleiter, who popularised it, multiplies reviews by a ratio. Developers who shared their real numbers put the ratio anywhere from about 20 to 60 sales per review, with 30 a common middle estimate for recent games.

Treat the result as a range, not a figure. Cheap games, games popular in regions that review less, and older games tend to have more sales per review; small games with very engaged communities have fewer.