How much revenue did X4: Foundations make?

$12.7M–$34.0M after Steam's roughly 30% cut, derived from the copies estimate and its price.

How many copies did X4: Foundations sell?

Q: How many copies did X4: Foundations sell?

920k to 1.5M copies, based on its 30k Steam reviews. This is a labeled estimate from the review count, not exact sales.

Estimated copies sold: ≈ 920k–1.5M; $12.7M–$34.0M after Steam's cut $23.0M–$52.3M before Steam's cut; from 30k 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 X4: Foundations and predicted how it would do from its 8 similar games. Every figure here, including X4: Foundations's, is estimated from Steam reviews.

Copies, estimated from reviews

typical (middle half) 1.6M–2.7M

best case 23.0M (No Man's Sky)

Games like X4: Foundations

A typical game among these

≈ 1.6M–2.7M copies

≈ $12.5M–$20.1M after Steam's cut

from ~34k 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.

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

Best case: No Man's Sky at ≈ 17.5M–28.5M copies, ≈ $289.3M–$777.8M 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 Space (7 of 8) and Open World (5 of 8).
The winners: Winners here lead with Space + Simulation, priced around $25.
When they shipped: The similar games span 2010 to 2021, 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
Kerbal Space Program 2015	Est. copies ≈ 7.2M–11.7M 4.3x vs typical SteamSpy 2M–5M	Est. revenue $79.0M–$212.3M after Steam's cut $143.6M–$326.6M before Steam's cut	$39.99	147k reviews Overwhelmingly Positive	SpaceSimulation
Oxygen Not Included 2019	Est. copies ≈ 4.1M–6.7M 4.2x vs typical SteamSpy 2M–5M	Est. revenue $28.5M–$76.7M after Steam's cut $51.9M–$118.0M before Steam's cut	$24.99	144k reviews Overwhelmingly Positive	Colony SimBase-Building
Elite Dangerous 2015	Est. copies ≈ 5.3M–8.5M 3.1x vs typical SteamSpy 2M–5M	Est. revenue $28.9M–$77.8M after Steam's cut $52.6M–$119.6M before Steam's cut	$19.99	108k reviews Mostly Positive	Space SimSpace
Dyson Sphere Program 2021	Est. copies ≈ 2.3M–3.7M 2.7x vs typical SteamSpy 2M–5M	Est. revenue $12.5M–$33.7M after Steam's cut $22.8M–$51.9M before Steam's cut	$19.99	92k reviews Overwhelmingly Positive	AutomationSpace
No Man's Sky 2016	Est. copies ≈ 17.5M–28.5M 12x vs typical SteamSpy 5M–10M	Est. revenue $289.3M–$777.8M after Steam's cut $526.0M–$1196.6M before Steam's cut	$59.99	422k reviews Very Positive	Open WorldOpen World Survival Craft
Empyrion - Galactic Survival 2020	Est. copies ≈ 854k–1.4M SteamSpy 1M–2M	Est. revenue $4.7M–$12.6M after Steam's cut $8.5M–$19.4M before Steam's cut	$19.99	34k reviews Mostly Positive	Simulation Co-op
Universe Sandbox 2015	Est. copies ≈ 1.6M–2.6M SteamSpy 1M–2M	Est. revenue $13.0M–$35.0M after Steam's cut $23.6M–$53.8M before Steam's cut	$29.99	32k reviews Overwhelmingly Positive	SandboxSpace
EVE Online 2010	Est. copies ≈ 2.5M–4.1M SteamSpy 2M–5M	Est. revenue Free	Free	40k reviews Mostly Positive	SpaceFree to Play