How much revenue did Return of the Obra Dinn make?

$5.9M–$15.9M after Steam's roughly 30% cut, derived from the copies estimate and its price.

How many copies did Return of the Obra Dinn sell?

Q: How many copies did Return of the Obra Dinn sell?

1.1M to 1.7M copies, based on its 35k Steam reviews. This is a labeled estimate from the review count, not exact sales.

Estimated copies sold: ≈ 1.1M–1.7M; $5.9M–$15.9M after Steam's cut $10.7M–$24.4M before Steam's cut; from 35k reviews (Overwhelmingly 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 Return of the Obra Dinn and predicted how it would do from its 8 similar games. Every figure here, including Return of the Obra Dinn's, is estimated from Steam reviews.

Copies, estimated from reviews

typical (middle half) 506k–840k

best case 1.7M (Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy)

Games like Return of the Obra Dinn

A typical game among these

≈ 506k–840k copies

≈ $3.0M–$7.0M after Steam's cut

from ~17k 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: Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy at ≈ 1.3M–2.1M copies, ≈ $10.8M–$28.9M 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 Mystery (8 of 8) and Detective (7 of 8).
The winners: Winners here lead with Mystery + Detective, priced around $20. The breakout hits carry Anime + Visual Novel + Story Rich; a typical game here doesn't.
When they shipped: The similar games span 2014 to 2024, 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 70 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
Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc 2016	Est. copies ≈ 1.6M–2.6M 2.4x vs typical SteamSpy 1M–2M	Est. revenue $8.9M–$24.0M after Steam's cut $16.2M–$36.9M before Steam's cut	$19.99	39k reviews Overwhelmingly Positive	AnimeVisual Novel
Murdered: Soul Suspect 2014	Est. copies ≈ 976k–1.6M SteamSpy 1M–2M	Est. revenue $5.4M–$14.4M after Steam's cut $9.8M–$22.2M before Steam's cut	$19.99	17k reviews Very Positive	DetectiveAdventure
Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair 2016	Est. copies ≈ 1.4M–2.2M 2.0x vs typical SteamSpy 500k–1M	Est. revenue $7.5M–$20.3M after Steam's cut $13.7M–$31.2M before Steam's cut	$19.99	33k reviews Overwhelmingly Positive	AnimeDetective
Cube Escape: Paradox 2018	Est. copies ≈ 373k–606k SteamSpy 500k–1M	Est. revenue Free	Free	12k reviews Overwhelmingly Positive	PuzzleFree to Play
Unheard - Voices of Crime 2019	Est. copies ≈ 981k–1.6M 2.1x vs typical SteamSpy 1M–2M	Est. revenue $1.9M–$5.1M after Steam's cut $3.4M–$7.8M before Steam's cut	$6.99	34k reviews Overwhelmingly Positive	DetectivePuzzle
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy 2019	Est. copies ≈ 1.3M–2.1M 2.7x vs typical SteamSpy 1M–2M	Est. revenue $10.8M–$28.9M after Steam's cut $19.5M–$44.5M before Steam's cut	$29.99	45k reviews Overwhelmingly Positive	DetectiveVisual Novel
Cyber Manhunt 2021	Est. copies ≈ 390k–634k SteamSpy 500k–1M	Est. revenue $1.1M–$2.9M after Steam's cut $1.9M–$4.4M before Steam's cut	$9.99	16k reviews Very Positive	SimulationRPG
Murders on the Yangtze River 2024	Est. copies ≈ 528k–858k SteamSpy 200k–500k	Est. revenue $2.2M–$5.9M after Steam's cut $4.0M–$9.0M before Steam's cut	$14.99	21k reviews Overwhelmingly Positive	DetectiveAdventure