How much revenue did Zero-Sum Heart make?

$9k–$24k after Steam's roughly 30% cut, derived from the copies estimate and its price.

How many copies did Zero-Sum Heart sell?

Q: How many copies did Zero-Sum Heart sell?

6k to 10k copies, based on its 257 Steam reviews. This is a labeled estimate from the review count, not exact sales.

Estimated copies sold: ≈ 6k–10k; $9k–$24k after Steam's cut $16k–$36k before Steam's cut; from 257 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 Zero-Sum Heart and predicted how it would do from its 8 similar games. Every figure here, including Zero-Sum Heart's, is estimated from Steam reviews.

Copies, estimated from reviews

typical (middle half) 1.7M–2.2M

best case 8.6M (Detroit: Become Human)

Games like Zero-Sum Heart

A typical game among these

≈ 1.7M–2.2M copies

≈ $11.2M–$16.4M after Steam's cut

from ~40k 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: Detroit: Become Human at ≈ 6.6M–10.7M copies, ≈ $72.1M–$193.9M 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 11k reviews in their first month; the range was 8k to 12k.

The genre you'd be entering

These games: The similar games share Choices Matter (7 of 8) and Story Rich (7 of 8).
The winners: Winners here lead with Story Rich + Choices Matter, priced around $40. The breakout hits carry Time Travel + Cinematic + Emotional; a typical game here doesn't.
When they shipped: The similar games span 2013 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
Life is Strange 2 2018	Est. copies ≈ 1.3M–2.0M SteamSpy 10M–20M	Est. revenue Free	Free	41k reviews Very Positive	Choices MatterStory Rich
Mass Effect™ Legendary Edition 2021	Est. copies ≈ 1.7M–2.7M 1.7x vs typical SteamSpy 1M–2M	Est. revenue $27.7M–$74.3M after Steam's cut $50.3M–$114.4M before Steam's cut	$59.99	68k reviews Very Positive	Story RichRPG
Volcano Princess 2023	Est. copies ≈ 1.2M–2.0M SteamSpy 1M–2M	Est. revenue $3.7M–$9.9M after Steam's cut $6.7M–$15.3M before Steam's cut	$10.99	49k reviews Overwhelmingly Positive	Life SimMultiple Endings
Life is Strange - Episode 1 2015	Est. copies ≈ 8.6M–14.0M 4.4x vs typical SteamSpy 5M–10M	Est. revenue Free	Free	176k reviews Overwhelmingly Positive	Story RichChoices Matter
The Walking Dead: Season Two 2013	Est. copies ≈ 2.2M–3.5M SteamSpy 1M–2M	Est. revenue $8.9M–$23.8M after Steam's cut $16.1M–$36.7M before Steam's cut	$14.99	34k reviews Overwhelmingly Positive	ZombiesAdventure
Detroit: Become Human 2020	Est. copies ≈ 6.6M–10.7M 6.6x vs typical SteamSpy 2M–5M	Est. revenue $72.1M–$193.9M after Steam's cut $131.1M–$298.3M before Steam's cut	$39.99	264k reviews Overwhelmingly Positive	Choices MatterStory Rich
Life is Strange: Before the Storm 2017	Est. copies ≈ 1.3M–2.1M SteamSpy 2M–5M	Est. revenue $6.1M–$16.4M after Steam's cut $11.1M–$25.2M before Steam's cut	$16.99	38k reviews Very Positive	Story RichChoices Matter
VA-11 Hall-A: Cyberpunk Bartender Action 2016	Est. copies ≈ 1.6M–2.6M SteamSpy 500k–1M	Est. revenue $6.7M–$17.9M after Steam's cut $12.1M–$27.6M before Steam's cut	$14.99	39k reviews Overwhelmingly Positive	CyberpunkVisual Novel