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How many copies did Aviation Manager sell?

Estimated copies sold
≈ 273–443
$450–$1k after Steam's cut $818–$2k before Steam's cut
from 11 reviews (Mostly Negative)

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 Aviation Manager and predicted how it would do from its 8 similar games. Every figure here, including Aviation Manager's, is estimated from Steam reviews.

Copies, estimated from reviews

typical (middle half) 1.2M–2.3M
best case 65.2M (War Thunder)
Games like Aviation Manager

A typical game among these

≈ 1.2M–2.3M copies

≈ $18.9M–$43.3M after Steam's cut

from ~33k 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: War Thunder at ≈ 49.7M–80.7M copies. It is a breakout hit, far above a typical game.

The genre you'd be entering
These games
The similar games share Flight (7 of 8) and Simulation (7 of 8).
The winners
Winners here lead with Simulation + Vehicular Combat. The breakout hits carry Vehicular Combat + World War II + Free to Play; a typical game here doesn't.
When they shipped
The similar games span 2013 to 2026, 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 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

War Thunder
2013
Est. copies
≈ 49.7M–80.7M
24x vs typical
SteamSpy 20M–50M
Est. revenue
Free
Free
786k reviews
Mostly Positive
Free to PlaySimulation
VTOL VR
2017
Est. copies
≈ 752k–1.2M
SteamSpy 500k–1M
Est. revenue
$6.2M–$16.7M after Steam's cut $11.3M–$25.7M before Steam's cut
$29.99
22k reviews
Overwhelmingly Positive
FlightVR
X4: Foundations
2018
Est. copies
≈ 920k–1.5M
SteamSpy 1M–2M
Est. revenue
$12.7M–$34.0M after Steam's cut $23.0M–$52.3M before Steam's cut
$49.99
30k reviews
Mostly Positive
Space SimSimulation
Microsoft Flight Simulator X: Steam Edition
2014
Est. copies
≈ 1.5M–2.4M
SteamSpy 2M–5M
Est. revenue
$10.2M–$27.5M after Steam's cut $18.6M–$42.2M before Steam's cut
$24.99
27k reviews
Very Positive
FlightSimulation
Microsoft Flight Simulator (2020) 40th Anniversary Edition
2026
Est. copies
≈ 1.8M–2.9M
2.2x vs typical
SteamSpy 2M–5M
Est. revenue
$29.9M–$80.5M after Steam's cut $54.4M–$123.8M before Steam's cut
$59.99
73k reviews
Mostly Positive
SimulationFlight
DCS World Steam Edition
2013
Est. copies
≈ 2.6M–4.2M
SteamSpy 5M–10M
Est. revenue
Free
Free
41k reviews
Very Positive
SimulationFlight
ACE COMBAT™ 7: SKIES UNKNOWN
2019
Est. copies
≈ 1.6M–2.7M
1.7x vs typical
SteamSpy 2M–5M
Est. revenue
$27.1M–$72.7M after Steam's cut $49.2M–$111.9M before Steam's cut
$59.99
57k reviews
Very Positive
FlightJet
Transport Fever 2
2019
Est. copies
≈ 950k–1.5M
SteamSpy 1M–2M
Est. revenue
$10.4M–$28.1M after Steam's cut $19.0M–$43.2M before Steam's cut
$39.99
33k reviews
Very Positive
SimulationStrategy

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