How much revenue did The Sims™ 3 make?

$9.8M–$26.3M after Steam's roughly 30% cut, derived from the copies estimate and its price.

How many copies did The Sims™ 3 sell?

Q: How many copies did The Sims™ 3 sell?

1.8M to 2.9M copies, based on its 34k Steam reviews. This is a labeled estimate from the review count, not exact sales.

Estimated copies sold: ≈ 1.8M–2.9M; $9.8M–$26.3M after Steam's cut $17.8M–$40.5M before the cut; from 34k reviews (Very Positive)

A labeled estimate from the public review count (adjusted for release year), not exact sales. Owner data cross-checked with SteamSpy.

Does this actually work?

We left The Sims™ 3 out and predicted the genre from its 8 similar games. Every figure here, including The Sims™ 3's, is estimated from Steam reviews, not self-reported sales.

Copies, estimated from reviews

typical (middle half) 794k–908k

best case 6.8M (The Sims™ 4)

The Life Sim genre

All 8 of your similar games are hits. A big, proven genre for a game like yours.

A hit here: 1,000+ reviews, roughly $150k+ before Steam's cut (a standard indie benchmark).

A typical game

≈ 794k–908k copies

≈ $9.9M–$14.0M after Steam's cut

from ~27k reviews

Best case

≈ 5.2M–8.5M copies

The Sims™ 4

A breakout hit, far above a typical game.

The genre you'd be entering

Your set: Your set clusters on Life Sim (8 of 8) and Character Customization (6 of 8).
The winners: Winners here lead with Life Sim + Character Customization, priced around $35. The breakout hits carry Free to Play + Romance + Singleplayer; a typical game here doesn't.
The era: The games you compared span 2017 to 2025, a genre with a long track record.

Copies and revenue are rough lifetime estimates from the review count.

Similar games

Game	Est. copies	Est. revenue	Price	Reviews	Tags
The Sims™ 4 2020	Est. copies ≈ 5.2M–8.5M 7.3x vs typical SteamSpy 10M–20M	Est. revenue Free	Free	197k reviews Very Positive	Life SimCharacter Customization
Coral Island 2023	Est. copies ≈ 654k–1.1M SteamSpy 500k–1M	Est. revenue $5.4M–$14.5M after Steam's cut $9.8M–$22.3M before the cut	$29.99	27k reviews Very Positive	Farming SimLife Sim
My Time at Sandrock 2023	Est. copies ≈ 691k–1.1M SteamSpy 500k–1M	Est. revenue $7.6M–$20.4M after Steam's cut $13.8M–$31.5M before the cut	$39.99	29k reviews Very Positive	Life SimBuilding
Nobody - The Turnaround 2022	Est. copies ≈ 343k–558k too small to compare SteamSpy 1M–2M	Est. revenue Free	Free	14k reviews Mixed	Early AccessLife Sim
Disney Dreamlight Valley 2023	Est. copies ≈ 587k–953k SteamSpy 500k–1M	Est. revenue $6.5M–$17.3M after Steam's cut $11.7M–$26.7M before the cut	$39.99	24k reviews Very Positive	RelaxingLife Sim
Youtubers Life 2017	Est. copies ≈ 530k–862k too small to compare SteamSpy 500k–1M	Est. revenue $2.9M–$7.8M after Steam's cut $5.3M–$12.1M before the cut	$19.99	15k reviews Mostly Positive	ManagementSingleplayer
Sun Haven 2023	Est. copies ≈ 605k–983k SteamSpy 500k–1M	Est. revenue $4.2M–$11.2M after Steam's cut $7.6M–$17.2M before the cut	$24.99	25k reviews Very Positive	Farming SimPixel Graphics
inZOI 2025	Est. copies ≈ 768k–1.2M SteamSpy 1M–2M	Est. revenue $8.4M–$22.7M after Steam's cut $15.3M–$34.9M before the cut	$39.99	32k reviews Mostly Positive	Life SimCharacter Customization