Success in the gaming industry can be measured in many different ways. For some developers, it might be enough for players to engage with their title; for others, it could be about creating a meaningful experience. Yet, for the majority, it’s a combination of these factors and significant sales because, at the end of the day, we all have bills to pay, whether we like it or not. However, this is more challenging than ever, and publishing a video game on Steam these days is synonymous with failure.
It’s not something we’re saying, but rather the statistics themselves. Currently, more than 50% of the games published on Steam generate less than $1,000 in revenue. Yes, you read that right: over half of the published titles hardly make any money.
The statistic gets even worse, as 76.5% of the games published on Steam earn less than $5,000 in revenue. This figure is dismal even for small projects, as this amount barely covers anything. Therefore, three out of every four games make very little money for the time invested.
In this context, it’s worth noting that many of these projects that earn little or no money are developed by amateur developers. In this case, the focus is not so much on economic success but rather on personal satisfaction. However, it’s challenging to quantify the percentage that each group represents.
On the other hand, the total number of video games that have managed to surpass $10,000 in revenue has been increasing each year, although the figures are still relatively low. For instance, in 2022, only 2,067 video games managed to earn more than $10,000.
As an interesting fact, over the last three years, a total of 41,000 video games have been published on Steam. This accounts for 58% of the platform’s total at the moment. To put it another way: from 2020 until now, more games have been published than in the entire previous history of Steam (17 years, to be exact). The number is staggering.
