How much revenue did Physical Layer make?

$5k–$13k after Steam's roughly 30% cut, derived from the copies estimate and its price.

How many copies did Physical Layer sell?

Q: How many copies did Physical Layer sell?

2k to 3k copies, based on its 78 Steam reviews. This is a labeled estimate from the review count, not exact sales.

Estimated copies sold: ≈ 2k–3k; $5k–$13k after Steam's cut $9k–$20k before Steam's cut; from 78 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 Physical Layer and predicted how it would do from its 8 similar games. Every figure here, including Physical Layer's, is estimated from Steam reviews.

Copies, estimated from reviews

typical (middle half) 34k–41k

best case 5.9M (Celeste)

Games like Physical Layer

A typical game among these

≈ 34k–41k copies

≈ $190k–$343k after Steam's cut

from ~1k reviews

Only the top fifth of 2019's Steam releases earned $34k or more before Steam's cut, so plan for that or less.

3 of the 8 similar games are hits.

Best case: Celeste at ≈ 4.5M–7.4M copies, ≈ $24.9M–$67.0M 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 63 reviews in their first month; the range was 1 to 731.

Games with under about 100 reviews in month one almost never recover.

The genre you'd be entering

These games: The similar games share 2D Platformer (8 of 8) and Shooter (7 of 8).
The winners: Winners here lead with Precision Platformer + Platformer, priced around $20. The breakout hits carry Precision Platformer + Difficult + Pixel Graphics; a typical game here doesn't.
When they shipped: The similar games span 2018 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 38 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
Celeste 2018	Est. copies ≈ 4.5M–7.4M 132x vs typical SteamSpy 2M–5M	Est. revenue $24.9M–$67.0M after Steam's cut $45.3M–$103.1M before Steam's cut	$19.99	149k reviews Overwhelmingly Positive	Precision PlatformerDifficult
The Shadow of Yidhra 2021	Est. copies ≈ 35k–57k SteamSpy 20k–50k	Est. revenue $105k–$283k after Steam's cut $191k–$436k before Steam's cut	$10.99	1k reviews Very Positive	ActionRPG
Contra: Operation Galuga 2024	Est. copies ≈ 24k–39k SteamSpy 50k–100k	Est. revenue $267k–$718k after Steam's cut $485k–$1.1M before Steam's cut	$39.99	979 reviews Very Positive	ActionArcade
Nitro Express 2025	Est. copies ≈ 28k–46k SteamSpy 20k–50k	Est. revenue $100k–$270k after Steam's cut $182k–$415k before Steam's cut	$12.99	1k reviews Mostly Positive	Side Scroller2D Platformer
Gunborg: Dark Matters 2022	Est. copies ≈ 2k–3k too small to compare SteamSpy under 20k	Est. revenue $5k–$14k after Steam's cut $9k–$21k before Steam's cut	$9.99	76 reviews Very Positive	Side Scroller2D Platformer
Spidersaurs 2022	Est. copies ≈ 2k–4k too small to compare SteamSpy under 20k	Est. revenue $12k–$33k after Steam's cut $22k–$50k before Steam's cut	$19.99	89 reviews Mostly Positive	Precision Platformer2D Platformer
Chaotic Loop 2022	Est. copies ≈ 422–685 too small to compare SteamSpy under 20k	Est. revenue Free	Free	17 reviews Positive	Side Scroller2D Platformer
Haneda Girl 2025	Est. copies ≈ 2k–4k too small to compare SteamSpy under 20k	Est. revenue $10k–$27k after Steam's cut $18k–$41k before Steam's cut	$14.99	97 reviews Very Positive	ActionShooter