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How many copies did Rocket Science sell?

Estimated copies sold
≈ 4k–7k
$24k–$65k after Steam's cut $44k–$99k before the cut
from 176 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 Rocket Science out and predicted the genre from its 8 similar games. Every figure here, including Rocket Science's, is estimated from Steam reviews, not self-reported sales.

Copies, estimated from reviews

typical (middle half) 5.7M–8.1M
best case 22.7M (No Man's Sky)
Games like Rocket Science

The middle of these games

≈ 5.7M–8.1M copies

≈ $49.5M–$102.9M after Steam's cut

from ~139k reviews

Only the top fifth of 2019’s Steam releases earned about $34k gross, so plan for that or less.

All 8 of your similar games are hits.

Best case: No Man's Sky at ≈ 17.3M–28.1M copies, ≈ $285.6M–$767.9M after Steam's cut. A breakout hit, far above a typical game.

The genre you'd be entering
Your set
Your set clusters on Space (7 of 8) and Exploration (5 of 8).
The winners
Winners here lead with Open World + Open World Survival Craft, priced around $60. The breakout hits carry Procedural Generation + Adventure + Open World Survival Craft; a typical game here doesn't.
The era
The games you compared span 2008 to 2019, and none of them 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 36 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

Kerbal Space Program
2015
Est. copies
≈ 7.1M–11.6M
SteamSpy 2M–5M
Est. revenue
$78.6M–$211.3M after Steam's cut $142.9M–$325.1M before the cut
$39.99
146k reviews
Overwhelmingly Positive
SpaceSimulation
No Man's Sky
2016
Est. copies
≈ 17.3M–28.1M
3.0x vs typical
SteamSpy 5M–10M
Est. revenue
$285.6M–$767.9M after Steam's cut $519.3M–$1181.5M before the cut
$59.99
416k reviews
Very Positive
Open WorldOpen World Survival Craft
ASTRONEER
2019
Est. copies
≈ 4.0M–6.5M
SteamSpy 2M–5M
Est. revenue
$33.0M–$88.8M after Steam's cut $60.1M–$136.6M before the cut
$29.99
139k reviews
Very Positive
MultiplayerOpen World
SPORE™
2008
Est. copies
≈ 4.6M–7.5M
SteamSpy 2M–5M
Est. revenue
$25.3M–$67.9M after Steam's cut $45.9M–$104.5M before the cut
$19.99
73k reviews
Very Positive
God GameOpen World
Oxygen Not Included
2019
Est. copies
≈ 4.1M–6.7M
SteamSpy 2M–5M
Est. revenue
$28.4M–$76.4M after Steam's cut $51.7M–$117.5M before the cut
$24.99
144k reviews
Overwhelmingly Positive
Colony SimBase-Building
Elite Dangerous
2015
Est. copies
≈ 5.3M–8.5M
SteamSpy 2M–5M
Est. revenue
$28.9M–$77.6M after Steam's cut $52.5M–$119.4M before the cut
$19.99
108k reviews
Mostly Positive
Space SimSpace
Stellaris
2016
Est. copies
≈ 8.2M–13.3M
SteamSpy 2M–5M
Est. revenue
$112.7M–$303.1M after Steam's cut $205.0M–$466.3M before the cut
$49.99
197k reviews
Very Positive
Starbound
2016
Est. copies
≈ 5.1M–8.3M
SteamSpy 2M–5M
Est. revenue
$21.1M–$56.8M after Steam's cut $38.4M–$87.5M before the cut
$14.99
123k reviews
Very Positive
Open World Survival CraftSandbox

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