How much revenue did Starcom: Unknown Space make?

$767k–$2.1M after Steam's roughly 30% cut, derived from the copies estimate and its price.

How many copies did Starcom: Unknown Space sell?

Q: How many copies did Starcom: Unknown Space sell?

112k to 181k copies, based on its 5k Steam reviews. This is a labeled estimate from the review count, not exact sales.

Estimated copies sold: ≈ 112k–181k; $767k–$2.1M after Steam's cut $1.4M–$3.2M before Steam's cut; from 5k 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 Starcom: Unknown Space and predicted how it would do from its 8 similar games. Every figure here, including Starcom: Unknown Space's, is estimated from Steam reviews.

Copies, estimated from reviews

typical (middle half) 5.7M–8.8M

best case 23.0M (No Man's Sky)

Games like Starcom: Unknown Space

A typical game among these

≈ 5.7M–8.8M copies

≈ $54.7M–$134.9M after Steam's cut

from ~146k 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: No Man's Sky at ≈ 17.5M–28.5M copies, ≈ $289.3M–$777.8M 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 Exploration (5 of 8) and Space (5 of 8).
The winners: Winners here lead with Procedural Generation + Exploration, priced around $45. The breakout hits carry Procedural Generation + Dwarf + PvE; a typical game here doesn't.
When they shipped: None of the similar games shipped in the last two years; the newest is from 2020. That says more about which games were found than about the market.

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
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
Deep Rock Galactic 2020	Est. copies ≈ 9.4M–15.3M 2.6x vs typical SteamSpy 5M–10M	Est. revenue $77.8M–$209.2M after Steam's cut $141.5M–$321.9M before Steam's cut	$29.99	380k reviews Overwhelmingly Positive	DwarfCo-op
STAR WARS Jedi: Fallen Order™ 2019	Est. copies ≈ 5.1M–8.2M SteamSpy 2M–5M	Est. revenue $55.6M–$149.5M after Steam's cut $101.1M–$230.0M before Steam's cut	$39.99	176k reviews Very Positive	Action-AdventureSouls-like
No Man's Sky 2016	Est. copies ≈ 17.5M–28.5M 2.9x vs typical SteamSpy 5M–10M	Est. revenue $289.3M–$777.8M after Steam's cut $526.0M–$1196.6M before Steam's cut	$59.99	422k reviews Very Positive	Open WorldOpen World Survival Craft
Kerbal Space Program 2015	Est. copies ≈ 7.2M–11.7M SteamSpy 2M–5M	Est. revenue $79.0M–$212.3M after Steam's cut $143.6M–$326.6M before Steam's cut	$39.99	147k reviews Overwhelmingly Positive	SpaceSimulation
ASTRONEER 2019	Est. copies ≈ 4.0M–6.5M SteamSpy 2M–5M	Est. revenue $33.1M–$89.1M after Steam's cut $60.2M–$137.0M before Steam's cut	$29.99	139k reviews Very Positive	MultiplayerOpen World
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	SpaceGrand Strategy
Starbound 2016	Est. copies ≈ 5.1M–8.3M SteamSpy 2M–5M	Est. revenue $21.1M–$56.9M after Steam's cut $38.4M–$87.5M before Steam's cut	$14.99	123k reviews Very Positive	Open World Survival CraftSandbox