How much revenue did Diplomacy is Not an Option make?

$2.6M–$7.0M after Steam's roughly 30% cut, derived from the copies estimate and its price.

How many copies did Diplomacy is Not an Option sell?

Q: How many copies did Diplomacy is Not an Option sell?

315k to 512k copies, based on its 13k Steam reviews. This is a labeled estimate from the review count, not exact sales.

Estimated copies sold: ≈ 315k–512k; $2.6M–$7.0M after Steam's cut $4.7M–$10.7M before Steam's cut; from 13k 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 Diplomacy is Not an Option and predicted how it would do from its 8 similar games. Every figure here, including Diplomacy is Not an Option's, is estimated from Steam reviews.

Copies, estimated from reviews

typical (middle half) 1.8M–6.9M

best case 18.7M (Cities: Skylines)

Games like Diplomacy is Not an Option

A typical game among these

≈ 1.8M–6.9M copies

≈ $26.8M–$139.4M after Steam's cut

from ~78k 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.

What their first month looked like

About half the games that made it here had over 20k reviews in their first month; the range was 17k to 44k.

The genre you'd be entering

These games: The similar games share City Builder (6 of 8) and Simulation (5 of 8).
The winners: Winners here lead with City Builder + Simulation, priced around $30.
When they shipped: The similar games span 2012 to 2024, and 2 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 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
Europa Universalis IV 2013	Est. copies ≈ 8.5M–13.8M 1.7x vs typical SteamSpy 5M–10M	Est. revenue $116.6M–$313.5M after Steam's cut $212.0M–$482.3M before Steam's cut	$49.99	134k reviews Very Positive	Grand StrategyStrategy
Against the Storm 2023	Est. copies ≈ 934k–1.5M SteamSpy 500k–1M	Est. revenue $7.7M–$20.7M after Steam's cut $14.0M–$31.9M before Steam's cut	$29.99	38k reviews Very Positive	StrategyCity Builder
Cities: Skylines 2015	Est. copies ≈ 14.2M–23.1M 3.7x 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	City Builder Simulation
Manor Lords 2024	Est. copies ≈ 2.3M–3.7M SteamSpy 2M–5M	Est. revenue $25.3M–$68.1M after Steam's cut $46.1M–$104.8M before Steam's cut	$39.99	93k reviews Very Positive	StrategyCity Builder
Workers & Resources: Soviet Republic 2024	Est. copies ≈ 682k–1.1M SteamSpy 500k–1M	Est. revenue $7.5M–$20.2M after Steam's cut $13.6M–$31.0M before Steam's cut	$39.99	27k reviews Very Positive	StrategySimulation
Frostpunk 2018	Est. copies ≈ 4.2M–6.8M 1.8x vs typical SteamSpy 2M–5M	Est. revenue $34.5M–$92.8M after Steam's cut $62.8M–$142.8M before Steam's cut	$29.99	138k reviews Very Positive	City Builder Survival
Victoria 3 2022	Est. copies ≈ 1.6M–2.5M SteamSpy 1M–2M	Est. revenue $21.4M–$57.4M after Steam's cut $38.8M–$88.4M before Steam's cut	$49.99	63k reviews Mixed	Grand StrategyEconomy
Age of Empires® III (2007) 2012	Est. copies ≈ 2.0M–3.3M SteamSpy 2M–5M	Est. revenue Free	Free	32k reviews Very Positive	StrategyRTS