How many copies did Ishmael sell?

3k to 4k copies, based on its 83 Steam reviews. This is a labeled estimate from the review count, not exact sales.

How much revenue did Ishmael make?

Ishmael is free to play, so there is no copy-sales revenue to estimate.

How big is Ishmael?

Estimated players who have it: ≈ 3k–4k; from 83 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 Ishmael and predicted how it would do from its 8 similar games. Every figure here, including Ishmael's, is estimated from Steam reviews.

Copies, estimated from reviews

typical (middle half) 349k–428k

best case 1.5M (The Walking Dead: The Telltale Definitive Series)

Games like Ishmael

A typical game among these

≈ 349k–428k copies

≈ $2.2M–$3.1M after Steam's cut

from ~12k 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.

Best case: The Walking Dead: The Telltale Definitive Series at ≈ 1.2M–1.9M copies, ≈ $16.2M–$43.5M 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 332 to 7k.

The genre you'd be entering

These games: The similar games share Story Rich (7 of 8) and Choices Matter (5 of 8).
The winners: Winners here lead with Story Rich, priced around $32.
When they shipped: The similar games span 2015 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 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

Game	Est. copies	Est. revenue	Price	Reviews	Tags
A Date with Death 2023	Est. copies ≈ 371k–603k SteamSpy 500k–1M	Est. revenue Free	Free	15k reviews Overwhelmingly Positive	Dating SimVisual Novel
Emily is Away 2015	Est. copies ≈ 1.6M–2.6M 2.7x vs typical SteamSpy 1M–2M	Est. revenue Free	Free	32k reviews Very Positive	Free to PlayStory Rich
The Walking Dead: The Telltale Definitive Series 2020	Est. copies ≈ 1.2M–1.9M 4.0x vs typical SteamSpy 500k–1M	Est. revenue $16.2M–$43.5M after Steam's cut $29.4M–$66.9M before Steam's cut	$49.99	47k reviews Overwhelmingly Positive	Choices MatterStory Rich
The Life and Suffering of Sir Brante 2021	Est. copies ≈ 326k–529k SteamSpy 200k–500k	Est. revenue $1.8M–$4.8M after Steam's cut $3.3M–$7.4M before Steam's cut	$19.99	13k reviews Very Positive	Choices MatterStory Rich
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
Doki Doki Literature Club Plus! 2021	Est. copies ≈ 813k–1.3M 2.8x vs typical SteamSpy 500k–1M	Est. revenue $3.4M–$9.0M after Steam's cut $6.1M–$13.9M before Steam's cut	$14.99	33k reviews Overwhelmingly Positive	Psychological Horror Visual Novel
Citizen Sleeper 2022	Est. copies ≈ 264k–429k SteamSpy 500k–1M	Est. revenue $1.5M–$3.9M after Steam's cut $2.6M–$6.0M before Steam's cut	$19.99	11k reviews Very Positive	RPGDice
Suzerain 2020	Est. copies ≈ 296k–481k SteamSpy 500k–1M	Est. revenue $1.6M–$4.4M after Steam's cut $3.0M–$6.7M before Steam's cut	$19.99	12k reviews Very Positive	Visual NovelChoose Your Own Adventure