How much revenue did Microsoft Flight Simulator X: Steam Edition make?

$10.2M–$27.5M after Steam's roughly 30% cut, derived from the copies estimate and its price.

How many copies did Microsoft Flight Simulator X: Steam Edition sell?

Q: How many copies did Microsoft Flight Simulator X: Steam Edition sell?

1.5M to 2.4M copies, based on its 27k Steam reviews. This is a labeled estimate from the review count, not exact sales.

Estimated copies sold: ≈ 1.5M–2.4M; $10.2M–$27.5M after Steam's cut $18.6M–$42.2M before Steam's cut; from 27k 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 Microsoft Flight Simulator X: Steam Edition and predicted how it would do from its 8 similar games. Every figure here, including Microsoft Flight Simulator X: Steam Edition's, is estimated from Steam reviews.

Copies, estimated from reviews

typical (middle half) 826k–1.8M

best case 27.0M (BeamNG.drive)

Games like Microsoft Flight Simulator X: Steam Edition

A typical game among these

≈ 826k–1.8M copies

≈ $10.8M–$18.0M after Steam's cut

from ~22k 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: BeamNG.drive at ≈ 20.5M–33.4M copies, ≈ $141.2M–$379.6M 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 Simulation (8 of 8) and Realistic (7 of 8).
The winners: Winners here lead with Simulation + Driving, priced around $25. The breakout hits carry Driving + Destruction + Automobile Sim; a typical game here doesn't.
When they shipped: The similar games span 2013 to 2026, 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
BeamNG.drive 2015	Est. copies ≈ 20.5M–33.4M 19x vs typical SteamSpy 5M–10M	Est. revenue $141.2M–$379.6M after Steam's cut $256.7M–$584.0M before Steam's cut	$24.99	421k reviews Overwhelmingly Positive	SimulationDriving
Microsoft Flight Simulator (2020) 40th Anniversary Edition 2026	Est. copies ≈ 1.8M–2.9M 3.3x vs typical SteamSpy 2M–5M	Est. revenue $29.9M–$80.5M after Steam's cut $54.4M–$123.8M before Steam's cut	$59.99	73k reviews Mostly Positive	SimulationFlight
VTOL VR 2017	Est. copies ≈ 752k–1.2M SteamSpy 500k–1M	Est. revenue $6.2M–$16.7M after Steam's cut $11.3M–$25.7M before Steam's cut	$29.99	22k reviews Overwhelmingly Positive	FlightVR
X-Plane 11 2017	Est. copies ≈ 699k–1.1M SteamSpy 1M–2M	Est. revenue $5.8M–$15.5M after Steam's cut $10.5M–$23.8M before Steam's cut	$29.99	20k reviews Very Positive	SimulationFlight
IL-2 Sturmovik: Battle of Stalingrad 2014	Est. copies ≈ 559k–909k SteamSpy 200k–500k	Est. revenue $7.7M–$20.7M after Steam's cut $14.0M–$31.8M before Steam's cut	$49.99	10k reviews Mostly Positive	FlightRealistic
DCS World Steam Edition 2013	Est. copies ≈ 2.6M–4.2M 1.9x vs typical SteamSpy 5M–10M	Est. revenue Free	Free	41k reviews Very Positive	SimulationFlight
Liftoff®: FPV Drone Racing 2018	Est. copies ≈ 429k–697k SteamSpy 500k–1M	Est. revenue $2.4M–$6.3M after Steam's cut $4.3M–$9.7M before Steam's cut	$19.99	14k reviews Overwhelmingly Positive	SimulationFlight
Transport Fever 2 2019	Est. copies ≈ 950k–1.5M 1.5x vs typical SteamSpy 1M–2M	Est. revenue $10.4M–$28.1M after Steam's cut $19.0M–$43.2M before Steam's cut	$39.99	33k reviews Very Positive	SimulationStrategy