How much revenue did Refence make?

$6k–$16k after Steam's roughly 30% cut, derived from the copies estimate and its price.

How many copies did Refence sell?

Q: How many copies did Refence sell?

4k to 6k copies, based on its 144 Steam reviews. This is a labeled estimate from the review count, not exact sales.

Estimated copies sold: ≈ 4k–6k; $6k–$16k after Steam's cut $11k–$24k before Steam's cut; from 144 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 Refence and predicted how it would do from its 8 similar games. Every figure here, including Refence's, is estimated from Steam reviews.

Copies, estimated from reviews

typical (middle half) 18k–25k

best case 324k ((the) Gnorp Apologue)

Games like Refence

A typical game among these

≈ 18k–25k copies

≈ $33k–$53k after Steam's cut

from ~578 reviews

Only the top fifth of 2019's Steam releases earned $34k or more before Steam's cut, so plan for that or less.

2 of the 8 similar games are hits.

Best case: (the) Gnorp Apologue at ≈ 247k–401k copies, ≈ $475k–$1.3M 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 244 reviews in their first month; the range was 135 to 2k.

The genre you'd be entering

These games: The similar games share Clicker (8 of 8) and Idler (8 of 8).
The winners: Winners here lead with Clicker + Idler, priced around $7. The breakout hits carry Building + Cute + Economy; a typical game here doesn't.
When they shipped: Only 3 of the 8 similar games shipped in the last two years. That says more about which games were found than about the market.

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 of about 31, 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
最后的仙门 The last Practice Sect 2022	Est. copies ≈ 13k–21k SteamSpy 100k–200k	Est. revenue $14k–$39k after Steam's cut $26k–$60k before Steam's cut	$3.99	529 reviews Mixed	IdlerClicker
(the) Gnorp Apologue 2023	Est. copies ≈ 247k–401k 17x vs typical SteamSpy 200k–500k	Est. revenue $475k–$1.3M after Steam's cut $863k–$2.0M before Steam's cut	$6.99	10k reviews Very Positive	ClickerIdler
Samawa Idle 2023	Est. copies ≈ 15k–25k SteamSpy 100k–200k	Est. revenue $21k–$57k after Steam's cut $39k–$88k before Steam's cut	$4.99	623 reviews Mixed	ClickerIdler
Minutescape 2025	Est. copies ≈ 14k–23k SteamSpy 20k–50k	Est. revenue $23k–$62k after Steam's cut $42k–$95k before Steam's cut	$5.99	565 reviews Mostly Positive	StrategyClicker
Nomad Idle 2025	Est. copies ≈ 22k–36k 1.5x vs typical SteamSpy 100k–200k	Est. revenue $60k–$162k after Steam's cut $110k–$250k before Steam's cut	$9.99	886 reviews Mixed	IdlerClicker
Idle Colony 2024	Est. copies ≈ 14k–23k SteamSpy 20k–50k	Est. revenue $24k–$63k after Steam's cut $43k–$98k before Steam's cut	$5.99	578 reviews Very Positive	CasualClicker
Tumbleweed Destiny 2022	Est. copies ≈ 10k–16k SteamSpy 50k–100k	Est. revenue $8k–$21k after Steam's cut $14k–$33k before Steam's cut	$2.99	389 reviews Very Positive	ClickerRogue-lite
Increlution 2021	Est. copies ≈ 31k–51k 2.2x vs typical SteamSpy 100k–200k	Est. revenue $34k–$92k after Steam's cut $62k–$141k before Steam's cut	$3.99	1k reviews Very Positive	IdlerTime Management