How much revenue did Desert Child make?

$36k–$96k after Steam's roughly 30% cut, derived from the copies estimate and its price.

How many copies did Desert Child sell?

Q: How many copies did Desert Child sell?

11k to 18k copies, based on its 355 Steam reviews. This is a labeled estimate from the review count, not exact sales.

Estimated copies sold: ≈ 11k–18k; $36k–$96k after Steam's cut $65k–$147k before Steam's cut; from 355 reviews (Mixed)

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 Desert Child and predicted how it would do from its 7 similar games. Every figure here, including Desert Child's, is estimated from Steam reviews.

Copies, estimated from reviews

typical (middle half) 5k–6k

best case 51k (Instruments of Destruction)

Games like Desert Child

A typical game among these

≈ 5k–6k copies

≈ $30k–$43k after Steam's cut

from ~119 reviews

Only the top fifth of 2019's Steam releases earned $34k or more before Steam's cut, so plan for that or less.

2 of the 7 similar games are hits.

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

Best case: Instruments of Destruction at ≈ 39k–63k copies, ≈ $215k–$577k 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 322 reviews in their first month; the range was 26 to 1k.

The genre you'd be entering

These games: The similar games share Action-Adventure (4 of 7) and Racing (4 of 7).
The winners: Winners here lead with Destruction + Physics, priced around $11. The breakout hits carry Simulation + Casual + Indie; a typical game here doesn't.
When they shipped: The similar games span 2017 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 43 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
Instruments of Destruction 2024	Est. copies ≈ 39k–63k 13x vs typical SteamSpy 20k–50k	Est. revenue $215k–$577k after Steam's cut $390k–$888k before Steam's cut	$19.99	2k reviews Very Positive	DestructionPhysics
Precursors 2017	Est. copies ≈ 4k–7k SteamSpy under 20k	Est. revenue $17k–$45k after Steam's cut $30k–$69k before Steam's cut	$14.99	117 reviews Mixed	ExplorationHero Shooter
Epic Roller Coasters 2018	Est. copies ≈ 24k–39k 6.6x vs typical SteamSpy 200k–500k	Est. revenue Free	Free	791 reviews Mixed	Free to PlaySimulation
Scrapland Remastered 2021	Est. copies ≈ 3k–5k SteamSpy 20k–50k	Est. revenue $16k–$44k after Steam's cut $29k–$67k before Steam's cut	$19.99	119 reviews Very Positive	MultiplayerAction
Cart Racer 2017	Est. copies ≈ 38k–61k 9.2x vs typical SteamSpy 50k–100k	Est. revenue $21k–$55k after Steam's cut $37k–$85k before Steam's cut	$1.99	1k reviews Mostly Positive	IndieAction
Let It Flow 2021	Est. copies ≈ 18k–30k 6.2x vs typical SteamSpy 50k–100k	Est. revenue Free	Free	734 reviews Very Positive	ActionRacing
Just Ride：Apparent Horizon 狂飙：极限视界 2019	Est. copies ≈ 5k–9k 1.6x vs typical SteamSpy under 20k	Est. revenue $30k–$80k after Steam's cut $54k–$122k before Steam's cut	$19.99	187 reviews Mostly Positive	ViolentAction