How much revenue did Hydroneer make?

$2.9M–$7.8M after Steam's roughly 30% cut, derived from the copies estimate and its price.

How many copies did Hydroneer sell?

Q: How many copies did Hydroneer sell?

708k to 1.2M copies, based on its 29k Steam reviews. This is a labeled estimate from the review count, not exact sales.

Estimated copies sold: ≈ 708k–1.2M; $2.9M–$7.8M after Steam's cut $5.3M–$12.1M before Steam's cut; from 29k 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 Hydroneer and predicted how it would do from its 8 similar games. Every figure here, including Hydroneer's, is estimated from Steam reviews.

Copies, estimated from reviews

typical (middle half) 67k–96k

best case 382k (Captain of Industry)

Games like Hydroneer

A typical game among these

≈ 67k–96k copies

≈ $669k–$956k after Steam's cut

from ~2k 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: Captain of Industry at ≈ 291k–473k copies, ≈ $2.8M–$7.5M after Steam's cut. It is a breakout hit, far above a typical game.

What their first month looked like

About half the games that made it here had over 1k reviews in their first month; the range was 313 to 2k.

The genre you'd be entering

These games: The similar games share Automation (7 of 8) and Building (6 of 8).
The winners: Winners here lead with Base-Building + Automation, priced around $35. The breakout hits carry Base-Building + Science; a typical game here doesn't.
When they shipped: The similar games span 2015 to 2024, and 1 of the 8 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 61 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
Stationeers 2017	Est. copies ≈ 320k–520k 3.8x vs typical SteamSpy 200k–500k	Est. revenue $3.1M–$8.3M after Steam's cut $5.6M–$12.7M before Steam's cut	$34.99	9k reviews Very Positive	Early AccessSpace
Hammerting 2021	Est. copies ≈ 65k–105k SteamSpy 200k–500k	Est. revenue $444k–$1.2M after Steam's cut $807k–$1.8M before Steam's cut	$24.99	3k reviews Mixed	Colony SimBase-Building
FortressCraft Evolved! 2015	Est. copies ≈ 150k–243k SteamSpy 200k–500k	Est. revenue $534k–$1.4M after Steam's cut $972k–$2.2M before Steam's cut	$12.99	3k reviews Mostly Positive	Open World Survival CraftAutomation
RAILGRADE 2023	Est. copies ≈ 32k–52k SteamSpy 50k–100k	Est. revenue $261k–$703k after Steam's cut $475k–$1.1M before Steam's cut	$29.99	1k reviews Very Positive	StrategyTrains
Captain of Industry 2022	Est. copies ≈ 291k–473k 4.8x vs typical SteamSpy 200k–500k	Est. revenue $2.8M–$7.5M after Steam's cut $5.1M–$11.6M before Steam's cut	$34.99	12k reviews Very Positive	Base-BuildingAutomation
InfraSpace 2023	Est. copies ≈ 49k–79k SteamSpy 100k–200k	Est. revenue $335k–$902k after Steam's cut $610k–$1.4M before Steam's cut	$24.99	2k reviews Mostly Positive	City Builder Automation
TerraTech Worlds 2024	Est. copies ≈ 57k–93k SteamSpy 100k–200k	Est. revenue $470k–$1.3M after Steam's cut $854k–$1.9M before Steam's cut	$29.99	2k reviews Mixed	Early AccessBase-Building
Automation Empire 2019	Est. copies ≈ 76k–124k SteamSpy 100k–200k	Est. revenue $628k–$1.7M after Steam's cut $1.1M–$2.6M before Steam's cut	$29.99	3k reviews Mixed	SimulationStrategy