How much revenue did The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition make?

$173.2M–$465.8M after Steam's roughly 30% cut, derived from the copies estimate and its price.

How many copies did The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition sell?

Q: How many copies did The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition sell?

15.8M to 25.6M copies, based on its 379k Steam reviews. This is a labeled estimate from the review count, not exact sales.

Estimated copies sold: ≈ 15.8M–25.6M; $173.2M–$465.8M after Steam's cut $315.0M–$716.6M before Steam's cut; from 379k 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 The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition and predicted how it would do from its 7 similar games. Every figure here, including The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition's, is estimated from Steam reviews.

Copies, estimated from reviews

typical (middle half) 37.3M–103.8M

best case 133.2M (Grand Theft Auto V Legacy)

Games like The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition

A typical game among these

≈ 37.3M–103.8M copies

≈ $525.5M–$871.7M after Steam's cut

from ~983k 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 7 of the similar games are hits.

Best case: Grand Theft Auto V Legacy at ≈ 101.5M–164.9M copies.

The genre you'd be entering

These games: The similar games share Open World (5 of 7) and Story Rich (3 of 7).
The winners: Winners here lead with Open World + Crime.
When they shipped: The similar games span 2011 to 2024, and 1 of the 7 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
Grand Theft Auto V Legacy 2015	Est. copies ≈ 101.5M–164.9M 2.1x vs typical SteamSpy 50M–100M	Est. revenue Free	Free	2.1M reviews Very Positive	Open WorldAction
Black Myth: Wukong 2024	Est. copies ≈ 30.1M–48.9M SteamSpy 50M–100M	Est. revenue $496.2M–$1334.2M after Steam's cut $902.2M–$2052.5M before Steam's cut	$59.99	1.2M reviews Overwhelmingly Positive	MythologyAction RPG
Cyberpunk 2077 2020	Est. copies ≈ 24.4M–39.6M SteamSpy 20M–50M	Est. revenue $402.0M–$1080.8M after Steam's cut $730.9M–$1662.7M before Steam's cut	$59.99	983k reviews Very Positive	CyberpunkOpen World
Terraria 2011	Est. copies ≈ 98.5M–160.1M 1.6x vs typical SteamSpy 20M–50M	Est. revenue $270.6M–$727.5M after Steam's cut $492.0M–$1119.3M before Steam's cut	$9.99	1.6M reviews Overwhelmingly Positive	Open World Survival CraftSandbox
ARK: Survival Evolved 2017	Est. copies ≈ 26.8M–43.5M SteamSpy 20M–50M	Est. revenue $110.4M–$296.8M after Steam's cut $200.7M–$456.6M before Steam's cut	$14.99	779k reviews Very Positive	Open World Survival CraftSurvival
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt — Remastered 2015	Est. copies ≈ 43.8M–71.2M SteamSpy 20M–50M	Est. revenue $602.5M–$1620.0M after Steam's cut $1095.5M–$2492.3M before Steam's cut	$49.99	898k reviews Overwhelmingly Positive	Open WorldRPG
Euro Truck Simulator 2 2012	Est. copies ≈ 59.7M–97.0M SteamSpy 10M–20M	Est. revenue $328.0M–$881.9M after Steam's cut $596.4M–$1356.8M before Steam's cut	$19.99	944k reviews Overwhelmingly Positive	DrivingTransportation