How much revenue did It Returned To The Desert make?

$1k–$3k after Steam's roughly 30% cut, derived from the copies estimate and its price.

How many copies did It Returned To The Desert sell?

Q: How many copies did It Returned To The Desert sell?

843 to 1k copies, based on its 34 Steam reviews. This is a labeled estimate from the review count, not exact sales.

Estimated copies sold: ≈ 843–1k; $1k–$3k after Steam's cut $2k–$5k before Steam's cut; from 34 reviews (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 It Returned To The Desert and predicted how it would do from its 8 similar games. Every figure here, including It Returned To The Desert's, is estimated from Steam reviews.

Copies, estimated from reviews

typical (middle half) 51k–96k

best case 229k (Lay a Beauty to Rest: The Darkness Peach Blossom Spring)

Games like It Returned To The Desert

A typical game among these

≈ 51k–96k copies

≈ $290k–$518k after Steam's cut

from ~2k 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: Lay a Beauty to Rest: The Darkness Peach Blossom Spring at ≈ 175k–284k copies, ≈ $672k–$1.8M after Steam's cut. It is a breakout hit, far above a typical game.

What their first month looked like

About half the games that made it here had over 1k reviews in their first month; the range was 349 to 3k.

The genre you'd be entering

These games: The similar games share Mystery (8 of 8) and Interactive Fiction (7 of 8).
The winners: Winners here lead with Multiple Endings + Mystery, priced around $19. The breakout hits carry Multiple Endings + Turn-Based Tactics + Tactical RPG; a typical game here doesn't.
When they shipped: The similar games span 2017 to 2025, and 3 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 43 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
A Normal Lost Phone 2017	Est. copies ≈ 102k–165k SteamSpy 100k–200k	Est. revenue Free	Free	3k reviews Very Positive	IndieLGBTQ+
Another Lost Phone: Laura's Story 2017	Est. copies ≈ 37k–59k SteamSpy 20k–50k	Est. revenue Free	Free	1k reviews Very Positive	IndieCasual
Reverse Collapse: Code Name Bakery 2024	Est. copies ≈ 129k–210k 2.4x vs typical SteamSpy 200k–500k	Est. revenue $888k–$2.4M after Steam's cut $1.6M–$3.7M before Steam's cut	$24.99	5k reviews Mostly Positive	Turn-Based TacticsMultiple Endings
恋爱绮谭~不存在的夏天~ 2020	Est. copies ≈ 73k–119k SteamSpy 100k–200k	Est. revenue $181k–$487k after Steam's cut $329k–$749k before Steam's cut	$8.99	3k reviews Very Positive	Visual NovelMystery
Heaven's Vault 2019	Est. copies ≈ 72k–117k SteamSpy 200k–500k	Est. revenue $494k–$1.3M after Steam's cut $899k–$2.0M before Steam's cut	$24.99	2k reviews Very Positive	AdventureNarrative
Lay a Beauty to Rest: The Darkness Peach Blossom Spring 2021	Est. copies ≈ 175k–284k 3.3x vs typical SteamSpy 200k–500k	Est. revenue $672k–$1.8M after Steam's cut $1.2M–$2.8M before Steam's cut	$13.99	7k reviews Overwhelmingly Positive	AdventureMystery
Trials of Innocence 2025	Est. copies ≈ 45k–73k SteamSpy 20k–50k	Est. revenue $209k–$563k after Steam's cut $381k–$866k before Steam's cut	$16.99	2k reviews Very Positive	DetectiveVisual Novel
Misty Judgment 2025	Est. copies ≈ 35k–57k SteamSpy under 20k	Est. revenue $86k–$231k after Steam's cut $156k–$356k before Steam's cut	$8.99	1k reviews Very Positive	Early AccessInteractive Fiction