How much revenue did Total War: EMPIRE – Definitive Edition make?

$13.3M–$35.6M after Steam's roughly 30% cut, derived from the copies estimate and its price.

How many copies did Total War: EMPIRE – Definitive Edition sell?

Q: How many copies did Total War: EMPIRE – Definitive Edition sell?

2.4M to 3.9M copies, based on its 38k Steam reviews. This is a labeled estimate from the review count, not exact sales.

Estimated copies sold: ≈ 2.4M–3.9M; $13.3M–$35.6M after Steam's cut $24.1M–$54.8M before Steam's cut; from 38k reviews (Very Positive)

Copies are estimated from the public review count, adjusted for release year, and cross-checked against SteamSpy's own estimate.

Did the prediction match what actually happened?

We hid Total War: EMPIRE – Definitive Edition and predicted how it would do from its 8 similar games. Every figure here, including Total War: EMPIRE – Definitive Edition's, is estimated from Steam reviews.

Copies, estimated from reviews

typical (middle half) 1.2M–2.9M

best case 19.8M (Hearts of Iron IV)

Games like Total War: EMPIRE – Definitive Edition

A typical game among these

≈ 1.2M–2.9M copies

≈ $12.6M–$45.6M after Steam's cut

from ~28k reviews

Only the top fifth of 2019's Steam releases earned $34k or more before Steam's cut, so plan for that or less.

All 8 of the similar games are hits.

Best case: Hearts of Iron IV at ≈ 15.1M–24.6M copies, ≈ $207.7M–$558.4M after Steam's cut. It is a breakout hit, far above a typical game.

The genre you'd be entering

These games: The similar games share Grand Strategy (8 of 8) and Historical (7 of 8).
The winners: Winners here lead with World War II + Grand Strategy, priced around $50. The breakout hits carry World War II + Alternate History + Military; a typical game here doesn't.
When they shipped: The similar games span 2010 to 2020, and none of them shipped in the last two years.

How these numbers were worked out

A hit here: 1,000+ reviews, roughly $150k+ before Steam's cut (a standard indie benchmark).

Copies come from each game's reviews times a sales-per-review rate that falls with release age, from about 31 for the most recent game here to about 79 for the oldest, then widened into a range; revenue rides on that estimate times price. Source: GameDiscoverCo (2020) and VG Insights (2021).

Similar games

Game	Est. copies	Est. revenue	Price	Reviews	Tags
Hearts of Iron IV 2016	Est. copies ≈ 15.1M–24.6M 13x vs typical SteamSpy 5M–10M	Est. revenue $207.7M–$558.4M after Steam's cut $377.6M–$859.1M before Steam's cut	$49.99	363k reviews Very Positive	StrategyWorld War II
Total War: SHOGUN 2 2011	Est. copies ≈ 4.3M–7.0M 2.5x vs typical SteamSpy 2M–5M	Est. revenue $35.4M–$95.2M after Steam's cut $64.4M–$146.5M before Steam's cut	$29.99	68k reviews Very Positive	StrategyHistorical
Total War: NAPOLEON – Definitive Edition 2010	Est. copies ≈ 1.7M–2.8M SteamSpy 1M–2M	Est. revenue $9.6M–$25.9M after Steam's cut $17.5M–$39.8M before Steam's cut	$19.99	28k reviews Very Positive	StrategyHistorical
ROMANCE OF THE THREE KINGDOMS XIV 2020	Est. copies ≈ 404k–656k SteamSpy 1M–2M	Est. revenue $6.7M–$17.9M after Steam's cut $12.1M–$27.6M before Steam's cut	$59.99	16k reviews Mixed	Turn-Based TacticsWargame
Total War: THREE KINGDOMS 2019	Est. copies ≈ 2.7M–4.4M 3.4x vs typical SteamSpy 5M–10M	Est. revenue $29.7M–$79.9M after Steam's cut $54.0M–$123.0M before Steam's cut	$39.99	94k reviews Very Positive	StrategyHistorical
Victoria II 2010	Est. copies ≈ 1.3M–2.1M SteamSpy 1M–2M	Est. revenue $7.2M–$19.5M after Steam's cut $13.2M–$29.9M before Steam's cut	$19.99	21k reviews Very Positive	Grand StrategyStrategy
Total War: SHOGUN 2 unreleased	Est. copies ≈ 1.7M–2.7M 2.5x vs typical SteamSpy 2M–5M	Est. revenue Free	Free	68k reviews Very Positive	StrategyHistorical
A Total War Saga: THRONES OF BRITANNIA 2018	Est. copies ≈ 453k–737k SteamSpy 500k–1M	Est. revenue $2.5M–$6.7M after Steam's cut $4.5M–$10.3M before Steam's cut	$19.99	15k reviews Mostly Positive	StrategyHistorical