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How many copies did Subsurface Circular sell?

Estimated copies sold
≈ 67k–108k
$110k–$295k after Steam's cut $200k–$454k before Steam's cut
from 2k 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 Subsurface Circular and predicted how it would do from its 8 similar games. Every figure here, including Subsurface Circular's, is estimated from Steam reviews.

Copies, estimated from reviews

typical (middle half) 203k–334k
best case 655k (The Test)
Games like Subsurface Circular

A typical game among these

≈ 203k–334k copies

≈ $336k–$1.4M after Steam's cut

from ~8k 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.

No genre covers most of these similar games. The closest is Choose Your Own Adventure (4 of 8), so its genre is hard to place.

Of the 416 indie games that passed 1,000 reviews in 2022, 11.8% were novel genre mixes and 88.2% stuck to an established genre. Published indie market research.

Best case: The Test at ≈ 499k–810k copies, ≈ $273k–$734k 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 1k reviews in their first month; the range was 287 to 13k.
The genre you'd be entering
These games
The similar games share Choose Your Own Adventure (4 of 8) and Multiple Endings (4 of 8).
The winners
Winners here lead with Mystery + Drama, priced around $6. The breakout hits carry RPG + Drama + 2D; a typical game here doesn't.
When they shipped
The similar games span 2015 to 2024, and 2 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 61 for the oldest, then widened into a range; revenue rides on that estimate times price. Source: GameDiscoverCo (2020) and VG Insights (2021).

Similar games

Her Story
2015
Est. copies
≈ 509k–827k
SteamSpy 1M–2M
Est. revenue
$1.4M–$3.8M after Steam's cut $2.5M–$5.8M before Steam's cut
$9.99
10k reviews
Very Positive
InvestigationTyping
Love, Money, Rock'n'Roll
2022
Est. copies
≈ 177k–288k
SteamSpy 200k–500k
Est. revenue
$487k–$1.3M after Steam's cut $886k–$2.0M before Steam's cut
$9.99
7k reviews
Mostly Positive
Visual NovelAnime
The Operator
2024
Est. copies
≈ 220k–358k
SteamSpy 500k–1M
Est. revenue
$848k–$2.3M after Steam's cut $1.5M–$3.5M before Steam's cut
$13.99
9k reviews
Very Positive
DetectiveInvestigation
The Test: Final Revelation
2020
Est. copies
≈ 133k–216k
SteamSpy under 20k
Est. revenue
$73k–$196k after Steam's cut $132k–$301k before Steam's cut
$1.99
5k reviews
Overwhelmingly Positive
SimulationChoose Your Own Adventure
Sanfu
2023
Est. copies
≈ 443k–720k
2.2x vs typical
SteamSpy 500k–1M
Est. revenue
$1.3M–$3.6M after Steam's cut $2.4M–$5.5M before Steam's cut
$10.99
18k reviews
Very Positive
MysteryRPG
No Case Should Remain Unsolved
2024
Est. copies
≈ 266k–433k
SteamSpy 200k–500k
Est. revenue
$512k–$1.4M after Steam's cut $930k–$2.1M before Steam's cut
$6.99
11k reviews
Overwhelmingly Positive
Interactive FictionPuzzle
The Test: Hypothesis Rising
2020
Est. copies
≈ 147k–239k
SteamSpy 20k–50k
Est. revenue
$80k–$216k after Steam's cut $146k–$332k before Steam's cut
$1.99
6k reviews
Overwhelmingly Positive
SimulationMultiple Endings
The Test
2020
Est. copies
≈ 499k–810k
2.5x vs typical
SteamSpy 500k–1M
Est. revenue
$273k–$734k after Steam's cut $496k–$1.1M before Steam's cut
$1.99
20k reviews
Overwhelmingly Positive
Choose Your Own AdventureSimulation

Sizing up your own game? See how many copies games in its genre usually sell before you build it.