Two Steam games generated $560,000 across 135,000 sales, but the co-creator only took home $15,000 annually

Tom's Hardware 2026-10-11

Summary:

Game developer explains how $560,000 in Steam sales gets reduced to $146,000 in pockets — breakdown highlights harsh realities of gaming business

Link:

https://www.tomshardware.com/video-games/pc-gaming/two-steam-games-generated-usd560-000-across-135-000-sales-but-the-co-creator-only-took-home-usd15-000-annually-high-chinese-refund-rates-steams-30-percent-fee-and-publisher-cuts-eat-most-of-the-profit-leaving-the-co-creator-driving-a-2012-mazda

From feeds:

Cybersecurity by kevin » Tom's Hardware

Tags:

games

Authors:

editors@tomshardware.com (Bruno Ferreira) , Bruno Ferreira

Date tagged:

10/11/2026, 11:59

Date published:

10/11/2026, 08:10