How much revenue did Border Pioneer make?

$197k–$529k after Steam's roughly 30% cut, derived from the copies estimate and its price.

How many copies did Border Pioneer sell?

Q: How many copies did Border Pioneer sell?

48k to 78k copies, based on its 2k Steam reviews. This is a labeled estimate from the review count, not exact sales.

Estimated copies sold: ≈ 48k–78k; $197k–$529k after Steam's cut $358k–$814k before Steam's cut; from 2k 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 Border Pioneer and predicted how it would do from its 8 similar games. Every figure here, including Border Pioneer's, is estimated from Steam reviews.

Copies, estimated from reviews

typical (middle half) 1.0M–1.6M

best case 7.7M (Factorio)

Games like Border Pioneer

A typical game among these

≈ 1.0M–1.6M copies

≈ $4.9M–$10.6M after Steam's cut

from ~23k 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: Factorio at ≈ 5.9M–9.5M copies, ≈ $56.4M–$151.5M 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 16k reviews in their first month; the range was 8k to 86k.

The genre you'd be entering

These games: The similar games share Building (5 of 8) and Base-Building (4 of 8).
The winners: Winners here lead with Automation + Base-Building, priced around $35. The breakout hits carry Automation + Multiplayer + Resource Management; a typical game here doesn't.
When they shipped: The similar games span 2013 to 2024, 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

Game	Est. copies	Est. revenue	Price	Reviews	Tags
Kingdom: Classic 2015	Est. copies ≈ 1.1M–1.8M SteamSpy 2M–5M	Est. revenue Free	Free	23k reviews Very Positive	Free to PlayStrategy
Kingdoms and Castles 2017	Est. copies ≈ 1.1M–1.8M SteamSpy 1M–2M	Est. revenue $6.0M–$16.0M after Steam's cut $10.8M–$24.6M before Steam's cut	$19.99	32k reviews Very Positive	City Builder Colony Sim
They Are Billions 2019	Est. copies ≈ 1.5M–2.4M 2.3x vs typical SteamSpy 2M–5M	Est. revenue $12.2M–$32.9M after Steam's cut $22.2M–$50.6M before Steam's cut	$29.99	52k reviews Very Positive	Base-BuildingColony Sim
The Last Spell 2023	Est. copies ≈ 341k–555k SteamSpy 500k–1M	Est. revenue $2.3M–$6.3M after Steam's cut $4.3M–$9.7M before Steam's cut	$24.99	14k reviews Very Positive	StrategySingleplayer
Factorio 2020	Est. copies ≈ 5.9M–9.5M 10x vs typical SteamSpy 5M–10M	Est. revenue $56.4M–$151.5M after Steam's cut $102.5M–$233.1M before Steam's cut	$35.00	236k reviews Overwhelmingly Positive	AutomationBase-Building
Stronghold Crusader HD (2012) 2013	Est. copies ≈ 1.3M–2.2M SteamSpy 1M–2M	Est. revenue $3.7M–$9.9M after Steam's cut $6.7M–$15.2M before Steam's cut	$9.99	21k reviews Overwhelmingly Positive	MilitaryCity Builder
Craft The World 2014	Est. copies ≈ 961k–1.6M SteamSpy 500k–1M	Est. revenue $5.0M–$13.5M after Steam's cut $9.1M–$20.8M before Steam's cut	$18.99	17k reviews Very Positive	DwarfColony Sim
Thronefall 2024	Est. copies ≈ 589k–957k SteamSpy 500k–1M	Est. revenue $2.1M–$5.7M after Steam's cut $3.8M–$8.7M before Steam's cut	$12.99	24k reviews Overwhelmingly Positive	Tower DefenseStrategy