How much revenue did Murders on the Yangtze River make?

$2.2M–$5.9M after Steam's roughly 30% cut, derived from the copies estimate and its price.

How many copies did Murders on the Yangtze River sell?

Q: How many copies did Murders on the Yangtze River sell?

528k to 858k copies, based on its 21k Steam reviews. This is a labeled estimate from the review count, not exact sales.

Estimated copies sold: ≈ 528k–858k; $2.2M–$5.9M after Steam's cut $4.0M–$9.0M before Steam's cut; from 21k reviews (Overwhelmingly 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 Murders on the Yangtze River and predicted how it would do from its 8 similar games. Every figure here, including Murders on the Yangtze River's, is estimated from Steam reviews.

Copies, estimated from reviews

typical (middle half) 1.7M–2.0M

best case 10.3M (Batman™: Arkham Knight)

Games like Murders on the Yangtze River

A typical game among these

≈ 1.7M–2.0M copies

≈ $11.6M–$19.0M after Steam's cut

from ~36k 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: Batman™: Arkham Knight at ≈ 7.8M–12.7M copies, ≈ $43.0M–$115.6M 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 Detective (6 of 8) and Story Rich (6 of 8).
The winners: Winners here lead with Stealth + Third Person, priced around $20. The breakout hits carry Action + Stealth + Third Person; a typical game here doesn't.
When they shipped: The similar games span 2010 to 2019, 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 36 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
Hacknet 2015	Est. copies ≈ 1.3M–2.1M SteamSpy 2M–5M	Est. revenue $3.5M–$9.4M after Steam's cut $6.4M–$14.5M before Steam's cut	$9.99	26k reviews Very Positive	HackingSimulation
Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc 2016	Est. copies ≈ 1.6M–2.6M SteamSpy 1M–2M	Est. revenue $8.9M–$24.0M after Steam's cut $16.2M–$36.9M before Steam's cut	$19.99	39k reviews Overwhelmingly Positive	AnimeVisual Novel
Batman: Arkham Asylum Game of the Year Edition 2010	Est. copies ≈ 5.5M–9.0M 2.4x vs typical SteamSpy 2M–5M	Est. revenue $30.5M–$82.0M after Steam's cut $55.5M–$126.2M before Steam's cut	$19.99	88k reviews Overwhelmingly Positive	ActionStealth
Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair 2016	Est. copies ≈ 1.4M–2.2M SteamSpy 500k–1M	Est. revenue $7.5M–$20.3M after Steam's cut $13.7M–$31.2M before Steam's cut	$19.99	33k reviews Overwhelmingly Positive	AnimeDetective
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy 2019	Est. copies ≈ 1.3M–2.1M SteamSpy 1M–2M	Est. revenue $10.8M–$28.9M after Steam's cut $19.5M–$44.5M before Steam's cut	$29.99	45k reviews Overwhelmingly Positive	DetectiveVisual Novel
L.A. Noire 2011	Est. copies ≈ 2.3M–3.8M SteamSpy 2M–5M	Est. revenue $12.8M–$34.5M after Steam's cut $23.4M–$53.1M before Steam's cut	$19.99	37k reviews Very Positive	DetectiveCrime
Batman™: Arkham Knight 2015	Est. copies ≈ 7.8M–12.7M 4.4x vs typical SteamSpy 2M–5M	Est. revenue $43.0M–$115.6M after Steam's cut $78.2M–$177.9M before Steam's cut	$19.99	160k reviews Very Positive	ActionOpen World
Return of the Obra Dinn 2018	Est. copies ≈ 1.1M–1.7M SteamSpy 500k–1M	Est. revenue $5.9M–$15.9M after Steam's cut $10.7M–$24.4M before Steam's cut	$19.99	35k reviews Overwhelmingly Positive	DetectiveMystery