How much revenue did Sid Meier's Starships make?

$498k–$1.3M after Steam's roughly 30% cut, derived from the copies estimate and its price.

How many copies did Sid Meier's Starships sell?

Q: How many copies did Sid Meier's Starships sell?

121k to 196k copies, based on its 2k Steam reviews. This is a labeled estimate from the review count, not exact sales.

Estimated copies sold: ≈ 121k–196k; $498k–$1.3M after Steam's cut $906k–$2.1M before Steam's cut; from 2k reviews (Mixed)

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

Copies, estimated from reviews

typical (middle half) 262k–419k

best case 1.3M (BATTLETECH)

Games like Sid Meier's Starships

A typical game among these

≈ 262k–419k copies

≈ $1.4M–$3.0M after Steam's cut

from ~7k 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: BATTLETECH at ≈ 1.0M–1.6M copies, ≈ $11.1M–$29.9M after Steam's cut. It is a breakout hit, far above a typical game.

The genre you'd be entering

These games: The similar games share Sci-fi (8 of 8) and Turn-Based (7 of 8).
The winners: Winners here lead with Turn-Based + Sci-fi, priced around $40. The breakout hits carry Mechs + Action + Futuristic; a typical game here doesn't.
When they shipped: The similar games span 2008 to 2023, and none of them 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
ENDLESS Space™ - Definitive Edition 2012	Est. copies ≈ 607k–987k SteamSpy 1M–2M	Est. revenue $1.7M–$4.5M after Steam's cut $3.0M–$6.9M before Steam's cut	$9.99	10k reviews Very Positive	Strategy4X
Terraforming Mars 2018	Est. copies ≈ 221k–358k SteamSpy 500k–1M	Est. revenue $1.2M–$3.3M after Steam's cut $2.2M–$5.0M before Steam's cut	$19.99	7k reviews Mostly Positive	StrategyBoard Game
BATTLETECH 2018	Est. copies ≈ 1.0M–1.6M 4.8x vs typical SteamSpy 1M–2M	Est. revenue $11.1M–$29.9M after Steam's cut $20.2M–$46.0M before Steam's cut	$39.99	33k reviews Very Positive	MechsStrategy
Master of Orion 2016	Est. copies ≈ 341k–554k SteamSpy 500k–1M	Est. revenue $2.3M–$6.3M after Steam's cut $4.3M–$9.7M before Steam's cut	$24.99	8k reviews Mostly Positive	Strategy4X
Cobalt Core 2023	Est. copies ≈ 109k–177k SteamSpy 100k–200k	Est. revenue $600k–$1.6M after Steam's cut $1.1M–$2.5M before Steam's cut	$19.99	4k reviews Overwhelmingly Positive	Roguelike DeckbuilderCard Game
Sid Meier's Civilization®: Beyond Earth™ 2014	Est. copies ≈ 1.3M–2.1M 3.3x vs typical SteamSpy 1M–2M	Est. revenue $14.3M–$38.4M after Steam's cut $26.0M–$59.0M before Steam's cut	$39.99	23k reviews Mixed	StrategyTurn-Based Strategy
Age of Wonders: Planetfall 2019	Est. copies ≈ 193k–313k SteamSpy 200k–500k	Est. revenue $1.6M–$4.3M after Steam's cut $2.9M–$6.6M before Steam's cut	$29.99	7k reviews Mostly Positive	StrategyTurn-Based Strategy
X-COM: UFO Defense 2008	Est. copies ≈ 253k–411k SteamSpy 1M–2M	Est. revenue $347k–$934k after Steam's cut $632k–$1.4M before Steam's cut	$4.99	4k reviews Overwhelmingly Positive	StrategyClassic