Steam revenue calculator: how much your game will actually earn
A $19.99 game with 10,000 wishlists at launch nets its developer about $26,796 in the first year, 42% of price times copies. Regional prices, discounts, VAT, refunds and Valve’s 30% take the rest. Put in your own price and wishlists or copies sold; every default below links to its public source.
What does Steam take from each sale?
Valve’s cut depends on how much the game has earned in total, counted per game. The lower rates apply only to the part of revenue above each line (Steamworks announcement, 2018).
| Game revenue on Steam | Valve keeps | Developer keeps |
|---|---|---|
| First $10 million | 30% | 70% |
| $10 million to $50 million | 25% | 75% |
| Above $50 million | 20% | 80% |
On top of that, each new game costs a $100 Steam Direct fee, which Valve pays back once the game reaches $1,000 in Adjusted Gross Revenue.
How does the calculator get from gross to net?
- Copies. Enter copies sold, or wishlists. Wishlists turn into launch-week copies at 0.15× (0.1× above $10), the median in GameDiscoverCo’s 2025 data. For the first month or year, launch-week revenue is multiplied by 1.39 or 3.16, the medians from its 2024 survey.
- Regional pricing. Players outside the US pay less. The default 20% is the 0.8 factor in Sergio Garces’s model; check your own regional prices on SteamDB.
- Discounts. The default is a 10% launch discount on every launch-week copy: Valve suggests 10% to 15% (Steamworks discounting rules). The first-year multiplier already includes later sales. For lifetime copies, Garces puts the average at 20% off (factor 0.8, range 0.7 to 0.9).
- VAT and sales tax. Steam prices in the EU and UK include VAT, which Valve pays to the tax office. Default 7% of gross, Garces’s 0.93 factor.
- Refunds. Default 9.5%, the median unit refund rate from almost 150 developers (GameDiscoverCo, 2025). Early Access games: 12.4%.
- Valve’s share. 30%, 25% and 20% by tier, on revenue after refunds and taxes. Your monthly Steamworks report shows the amount after those deductions (Steamworks sales reporting).
- Fee, withholding, publisher. The $100 fee counts only below $1,000. US withholding is 0% to 30% (Steamworks tax FAQ). A publisher cut comes off what is left.
Worked example: 10,000 wishlists at $19.99
| Step | Amount |
|---|---|
| 10,000 wishlists × 0.1 = 1,000 launch-week copies × $19.99 × 3.16 (first year) | $63,168 |
| Regional pricing, 20% | -$12,634 |
| Launch discount, 10% on 100% of copies | -$5,053 |
| What players paid | $45,481 |
| VAT and sales tax, 7% | -$3,184 |
| Refunds, 9.5% | -$4,018 |
| Valve’s share, 30% (under $10M) | -$11,484 |
| Net to the developer (fee recouped, self-published, no withholding) | $26,796 |
Rounded to whole dollars. The first-year figure is a median ratio across many games, so a single game can land far above or below it. For how buggy launches affect early reviews, see Steam launches in numbers.
Where do the defaults come from?
| Source | Used for |
|---|---|
| Valve, “New Revenue Share Tiers and other updates to the Steam Distribution Agreement”, Steamworks announcement, 30 Nov 2018 | 30% up to $10M, 25% from $10M to $50M, 20% above $50M; lower rates apply only to revenue above each threshold, per app |
| Game Developer, “Valve creates new rev-share tiers to give big sellers a break”, 30 Nov 2018 | Confirms the tiers are marginal (25% on revenue beyond $10M, 20% on earnings over $50M) |
| Steamworks documentation, “Steam Direct Fee” | $100 per app, not refundable, recouped once the product reaches $1,000 Adjusted Gross Revenue |
| GameDiscoverCo, “The state of Steam wishlist conversions”, 17 Oct 2025 | Median first-week sales of 0.15× launch wishlists (games with 25k+ wishlists, year to August 2025); 0.10× for games priced above $10 |
| GameDiscoverCo, “Revealed: the state of Steam wishlist conversions & ‘long tail’ in 2024”, 15 Apr 2024 | Median gross revenue multipliers vs launch week: 1.39× by end of month 1, 3.16× by end of year 1 (games released 2020 to 2023) |
| GameDiscoverCo, “Steam refunds: how many should you expect?”, 4 Feb 2025 | Median unit refund rate 9.5% (almost 150 developer responses); 8% for regular 1.0 games, 12.4% for Early Access |
| Steamworks documentation, “Discounting” | Valve suggests launch discounts around 10% to 15% (limit 40%, 7 to 14 days); no other discount for 30 days after release |
| Sergio Garces, “Steam in graphs in 2019”, Game Developer, 9 Jan 2020 | Revenue factors: 0.8 for regional prices, 0.93 for VAT, 0.8 for average discount over a game's life (range 0.7 to 0.9) |
| Steamworks documentation, “Tax FAQ” | US withholding from 0% to 30% on US-sourced sales depending on the tax interview; 30% without a tax treaty |
| Steamworks documentation, “Payments and Sales Reporting” | Sales reports exclude refunds, chargebacks and taxes; the monthly report shows what you are actually paid |
Defaults checked 2026-11-02. Valve does not publish median refund, conversion or discount figures; those come from developer surveys and models, so treat them as starting points and replace them with your own Steamworks numbers.
What does the calculator leave out?
- Keys sold outside Steam, bundles, DLC and in-game purchases.
- Currency conversion and bank fees on your payout.
- Income or corporate tax in your own country.
- Revenue from earlier periods: the tier thresholds count a game’s lifetime revenue, while the calculator starts at zero.
Can I add this calculator to my site?
Yes, for free. Game dev courses, engine tutorial blogs, game jam pages and indie communities use it so their readers can check a price before launch. Paste three lines where the calculator should appear. Your key is your domain with dots as dashes (example.com becomes example-com).
<div id="jj-steam-revenue"></div>
<script src="https://jumbojelly.com/widget/steam-revenue.js" data-key="your-domain-com" async></script>
<p>Calculator by <a href="https://jumbojelly.com/tools/steam-revenue-calculator/">Jumbo Jelly</a></p>- The calculator draws inside its own box and does not change your page’s styles. It follows the visitor’s light or dark mode; add
data-theme="light"or"dark"to fix one. - The last line is a plain link to this page. Keep it visible and without
rel="nofollow","sponsored"or"ugc"; without it the calculator shows a request to add the link instead of the result. - When Valve or the sources change, the numbers update on your page too. The calculator sets no cookies and collects no personal data; the request for current defaults logs your site’s address and key.
Questions developers ask
How much does Steam take from each sale?
Valve keeps 30% of a game’s revenue up to $10 million, 25% of the revenue between $10 million and $50 million, and 20% above $50 million. The lower rates apply only to the revenue above each threshold, per game. Valve’s share comes after refunds and taxes, so the 30% is not 30% of the sticker price.
How many copies will 10,000 wishlists sell?
GameDiscoverCo’s median for games launched in the year to August 2025 is 0.15 launch-week sales per wishlist, and 0.10 for games priced above $10. So 10,000 wishlists usually means 1,000 to 1,500 copies in the first week. First-year revenue was a median 3.16 times launch-week revenue in its 2024 survey.
What share of the sticker price reaches the developer?
With the defaults here, about 42% of price times copies reaches a self-published developer in the first year, or 59% of what players actually paid. Regional prices, discounts, VAT, refunds and Valve’s 30% are the five big steps. A publisher cut or US withholding tax lowers it further.
Is the $100 Steam Direct fee refunded?
It is not refunded, but it is recouped: Valve adds it back to your payment once the game reaches $1,000 in Adjusted Gross Revenue. The calculator subtracts the fee only when the game stays under that line.
Do I pay US withholding tax on Steam revenue?
Valve withholds between 0% and 30% of the US-sourced part of your payment, depending on the tax interview. Without a tax treaty between your country and the US the rate is 30%; with a treaty and a tax ID it is often lower or zero. The calculator applies the rate you enter to the whole payout, so a non-zero rate is a worst case.