How much revenue did Thief make?

$7.4M–$19.9M after Steam's roughly 30% cut, derived from the copies estimate and its price.

How many copies did Thief sell?

Q: How many copies did Thief sell?

1.3M to 2.2M copies, based on its 24k Steam reviews. This is a labeled estimate from the review count, not exact sales.

Estimated copies sold: ≈ 1.3M–2.2M; $7.4M–$19.9M after Steam's cut $13.5M–$30.6M before Steam's cut; from 24k reviews (Mostly 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 Thief and predicted how it would do from its 8 similar games. Every figure here, including Thief's, is estimated from Steam reviews.

Copies, estimated from reviews

typical (middle half) 12.2M–41.5M

best case 125.7M (PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS)

Games like Thief

A typical game among these

≈ 12.2M–41.5M copies

≈ $101.2M–$313.2M after Steam's cut

from ~427k 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.

No genre covers most of these similar games. The closest is Co-op (4 of 8), so its genre is hard to place.

Of the 416 indie games that passed 1,000 reviews in 2022, 11.8% were novel genre mixes and 88.2% stuck to an established genre. Published indie market research.

Best case: PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS at ≈ 95.8M–155.7M copies. It is a breakout hit, far above a typical game.

The genre you'd be entering

These games: The similar games share Co-op (4 of 8) and Open World (4 of 8).
The winners: Winners here lead with Survival + Shooter. The breakout hits carry Shooter + Battle Royale + PvP; a typical game here doesn't.
When they shipped: The similar games span 2013 to 2025, and 2 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
Schedule I 2025	Est. copies ≈ 7.9M–12.8M SteamSpy 10M–20M	Est. revenue $43.4M–$116.6M after Steam's cut $78.8M–$179.4M before Steam's cut	$19.99	318k reviews Overwhelmingly Positive	Simulation Co-op
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition 2016	Est. copies ≈ 15.8M–25.6M SteamSpy 5M–10M	Est. revenue $173.2M–$465.8M after Steam's cut $315.0M–$716.6M before Steam's cut	$39.99	379k reviews Very Positive	Open WorldRPG
Dying Light 2015	Est. copies ≈ 24.2M–39.3M SteamSpy 10M–20M	Est. revenue $166.4M–$447.4M after Steam's cut $302.5M–$688.3M before Steam's cut	$24.99	496k reviews Overwhelmingly Positive	ZombiesSurvival Horror
R.E.P.O. 2025	Est. copies ≈ 10.6M–17.2M SteamSpy 10M–20M	Est. revenue $29.1M–$78.2M after Steam's cut $52.9M–$120.2M before Steam's cut	$9.99	427k reviews Overwhelmingly Positive	HorrorOnline Co-Op
Hunt: Showdown 1896 2019	Est. copies ≈ 8.0M–13.1M SteamSpy 10M–20M	Est. revenue $66.3M–$178.3M after Steam's cut $120.6M–$274.4M before Steam's cut	$29.99	279k reviews Mostly Positive	Open WorldExtraction Shooter
PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS 2017	Est. copies ≈ 95.8M–155.7M 6.5x vs typical SteamSpy 100M–200M	Est. revenue Free	Free	2.8M reviews Mixed	SurvivalShooter
PAYDAY 2 2013	Est. copies ≈ 42.7M–69.3M 1.6x vs typical SteamSpy 20M–50M	Est. revenue $117.2M–$315.1M after Steam's cut $213.1M–$484.7M before Steam's cut	$9.99	675k reviews Very Positive	Co-opAction
Dead by Daylight 2016	Est. copies ≈ 39.0M–63.3M 2.2x vs typical SteamSpy 20M–50M	Est. revenue $214.2M–$575.9M after Steam's cut $389.4M–$886.0M before Steam's cut	$19.99	937k reviews Mostly Positive	HorrorMultiplayer