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How many copies did Rail Route sell?

Estimated copies sold
≈ 65k–106k
$449k–$1.2M after Steam's cut $817k–$1.9M before Steam's cut
from 3k 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 Rail Route and predicted how it would do from its 8 similar games. Every figure here, including Rail Route's, is estimated from Steam reviews.

Copies, estimated from reviews

typical (middle half) 4.6M–10.1M
best case 18.7M (Cities: Skylines)
Games like Rail Route

A typical game among these

≈ 4.6M–10.1M copies

≈ $50.3M–$152.5M after Steam's cut

from ~170k 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: Cities: Skylines at ≈ 14.2M–23.1M copies, ≈ $117.2M–$315.2M after Steam's cut.

The genre you'd be entering
These games
The similar games share Building (6 of 8) and Sandbox (6 of 8).
The winners
Winners here lead with City Builder + Simulation, priced around $30.
When they shipped
The similar games span 2015 to 2021, 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 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

Oxygen Not Included
2019
Est. copies
≈ 4.1M–6.7M
SteamSpy 2M–5M
Est. revenue
$28.5M–$76.7M after Steam's cut $51.9M–$118.0M before Steam's cut
$24.99
144k reviews
Overwhelmingly Positive
Colony SimBase-Building
Stellaris
2016
Est. copies
≈ 8.2M–13.3M
SteamSpy 2M–5M
Est. revenue
$112.6M–$302.6M after Steam's cut $204.7M–$465.6M before Steam's cut
$49.99
197k reviews
Very Positive
Factorio
2020
Est. copies
≈ 5.9M–9.5M
SteamSpy 5M–10M
Est. revenue
$56.4M–$151.5M after Steam's cut $102.5M–$233.1M before Steam's cut
$35.00
236k reviews
Overwhelmingly Positive
AutomationBase-Building
RimWorld
2018
Est. copies
≈ 7.6M–12.3M
SteamSpy 5M–10M
Est. revenue
$72.7M–$195.4M after Steam's cut $132.2M–$300.7M before Steam's cut
$34.99
249k reviews
Overwhelmingly Positive
Colony SimBase-Building
House Flipper
2018
Est. copies
≈ 3.4M–5.5M
SteamSpy 2M–5M
Est. revenue
$23.4M–$63.0M after Steam's cut $42.6M–$96.9M before Steam's cut
$24.99
112k reviews
Very Positive
SimulationDesign & Illustration
Kenshi
2018
Est. copies
≈ 3.6M–5.8M
SteamSpy 2M–5M
Est. revenue
$29.3M–$78.9M after Steam's cut $53.3M–$121.4M before Steam's cut
$29.99
117k reviews
Overwhelmingly Positive
Open WorldSandbox
Dyson Sphere Program
2021
Est. copies
≈ 2.3M–3.7M
SteamSpy 2M–5M
Est. revenue
$12.5M–$33.7M after Steam's cut $22.8M–$51.9M before Steam's cut
$19.99
92k reviews
Overwhelmingly Positive
AutomationSpace
Cities: Skylines
2015
Est. copies
≈ 14.2M–23.1M
1.7x vs typical
SteamSpy 10M–20M
Est. revenue
$117.2M–$315.2M after Steam's cut $213.1M–$484.9M before Steam's cut
$29.99
291k reviews
Very Positive

Sizing up your own game? See how many copies games in its genre usually sell before you build it.