How much revenue did METAL GEAR SOLID V: GROUND ZEROES make?

$5.6M–$15.1M after Steam's roughly 30% cut, derived from the copies estimate and its price.

How many copies did METAL GEAR SOLID V: GROUND ZEROES sell?

Q: How many copies did METAL GEAR SOLID V: GROUND ZEROES sell?

1.0M to 1.7M copies, based on its 18k Steam reviews. This is a labeled estimate from the review count, not exact sales.

Estimated copies sold: ≈ 1.0M–1.7M; $5.6M–$15.1M after Steam's cut $10.2M–$23.3M before Steam's cut; from 18k 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 METAL GEAR SOLID V: GROUND ZEROES and predicted how it would do from its 8 similar games. Every figure here, including METAL GEAR SOLID V: GROUND ZEROES's, is estimated from Steam reviews.

Copies, estimated from reviews

typical (middle half) 640–1k

best case 56.0M (PAYDAY 2)

Games like METAL GEAR SOLID V: GROUND ZEROES

A typical game among these

≈ 640–1k copies

≈ $665–$1k after Steam's cut

from ~21 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.

These similar games lean toward the genre's biggest winners; the typical figure comes from its ordinary successes.

Best case: PAYDAY 2 at ≈ 42.7M–69.3M copies, ≈ $117.2M–$315.1M 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 Stealth (6 of 8) and Co-op (2 of 8).
The winners: Winners here lead with Stealth, priced around $20. The breakout hits carry Open World + Co-op + Stealth; a typical game here doesn't.
When they shipped: The similar games span 2013 to 2020, 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
Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon® Wildlands 2017	Est. copies ≈ 4.0M–6.4M 5626x vs typical SteamSpy 2M–5M	Est. revenue $54.5M–$146.6M after Steam's cut $99.2M–$225.6M before Steam's cut	$49.99	115k reviews Mostly Positive	Open WorldShooter
PAYDAY 2 2013	Est. copies ≈ 42.7M–69.3M 32923x 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
METAL GEAR SOLID V: THE PHANTOM PAIN 2015	Est. copies ≈ 5.3M–8.6M 5287x vs typical SteamSpy 2M–5M	Est. revenue $29.1M–$78.2M after Steam's cut $52.9M–$120.3M before Steam's cut	$19.99	108k reviews Very Positive	StealthOpen World
Dark Storm: VR Missions 2015	Est. copies ≈ 1k–2k SteamSpy under 20k	Est. revenue Free	Free	23 reviews Mixed	ActionIndie
AGENT 00111 2019	Est. copies ≈ 518–842 SteamSpy under 20k	Est. revenue $853–$2k after Steam's cut $2k–$4k before Steam's cut	$5.99	18 reviews Mixed	IndieAdventure
Bad Business 2019	Est. copies ≈ 720–1k SteamSpy under 20k	Est. revenue $196–$527 after Steam's cut $356–$811 before Steam's cut	$0.99	25 reviews Mostly Positive	ActionIndie
Starship Saboteur Prototype 2020	Est. copies ≈ 397–645 SteamSpy 50k–100k	Est. revenue Free	Free	16 reviews Mostly Positive	Immersive SimTop-Down Shooter
Ho-Ho-Home Invasion 2020	Est. copies ≈ 3k–5k 6.4x vs typical SteamSpy under 20k	Est. revenue Free	Free	132 reviews Very Positive	Free to PlayStealth