How many copies do indie games sell on Steam?
2 min read
By Eduardo Orellana ·
Most sell very few. SteamDB counted over 19,000 releases in 2025 and noted that almost half had fewer than ten reviews, which at common review-to-sales estimates means a few hundred copies or fewer. Gamalytic reported in 2023 that half of the paid games released in the previous three years had grossed under $700. A minority sell tens of thousands of copies, concentrated in genres with strong demand and games that built wishlists before launch.
The distribution is a long tail
Averages mislead here: a few hits sell millions and pull the mean far above what a typical game sells. The median is the honest number, and it is small.
What the data shows
- Releases: SteamDB counted over 19,000 games released on Steam in 2025, almost half with fewer than ten reviews.
- Revenue: Gamalytic reported in 2023 that 76.5% of games released in the previous three years had earned under $5,000, and 5.6% over $200,000.
- Copies: at roughly 20 to 60 sales per review, ten reviews is a few hundred copies.
What the ones that sell share
A genre with proven demand, a clear hook visible in the capsule and trailer, thousands of wishlists before launch, a demo, and a price above the bargain bin. Gamalytic's data showed the median rising sharply for games priced at $10 and above.
Where Flockbay fits
Flockbay builds the game and prepares the parts that move these numbers: the Steam page, trailer, demo playtests and posts. Free to build; publishing tools free in beta until 1 December 2026.