Hey indie devs! Let's have an honest chat about something that keeps us up at night - how much money we actually make when we sell our games on Steam. Grab your favorite caffeinated beverage, because we're diving deep into the numbers.
You've probably heard this a million times: "Steam takes 30%." But what does that really mean in practice? When your awesome game sells for $20, Steam immediately takes their $6 cut, leaving you with $14. Seems straightforward, right? Well... not so fast.
Here's something cool that a lot of devs don't know about - Steam actually reduces their cut as you hit certain milestones. For your first $10M in sales, they take that standard 30%. Hit the $10M mark, and their cut drops to 25% for sales between $10M and $50M. Push past $50M, and Steam only takes 20%.
Now, I know what you're thinking - as an indie dev, these numbers might seem out of reach. But it's important to understand the whole picture, so let's talk about what actually affects most of us...
This is where things get spicy. That $20 price tag? It's not $20 everywhere. Steam encourages (and players expect) regional pricing. Your $20 game might sell for around $4.50 in Argentina, $6.00 in Turkey, and $7.00 in Russia. And yes, Steam still takes their 30% from these lower prices.
Looking at real data from my friend's indie game (they let me share this), their $15 game earned vastly different amounts across regions. About 40% of their sales came from US/EU at full price, while 35% came from middle-tier regions at roughly 60% of full price. The remaining 25% came from lower-tier regions at about 30% of full price. Their actual average revenue per sale ended up being around $11.20, not $15. After Steam's cut? About $7.84 per sale.
Now here's where it gets even more interesting. Remember that $20 price tag? In many regions, VAT and sales tax hit before Steam's cut. Take the EU, where most countries charge 20-25% VAT. From a €20 sale, up to €4 might go straight to tax before anything else happens. Then Steam takes their 30% cut of what's left, leaving you with around €11 in actual revenue.
The US scene varies by state - some charge no sales tax on digital goods, while others take anywhere from 4% to 10%. The silver lining? Steam handles all this complexity for you. The cloud in that silver lining? You still need to account for it in your revenue projections.
Sales are where things get really interesting. That 33% off discount during the Summer Sale? It comes out of your cut, not Steam's - they still take their 30% from the discounted price. Your $20 game at 33% off drops to $13.40. Steam takes their $4.02, leaving you with $9.38. Factor in regional pricing and taxes, and you might be looking at $5-6 per sale in some regions during a discount period.
But here's the bright side - a well-timed sale can multiply your unit sales by 5x or more. Many indie devs make 40-50% of their annual revenue during major Steam sales events. It's a delicate balance between per-unit revenue and volume.
Let's look at a real indie success story (name changed for privacy). "Dungeon Cats" launched in 2023 with a $19.99 price tag. In their first month, they sold 50,000 units, generating about $1,000,000 in gross revenue. After regional pricing adjustments, that dropped to around $800,000. Post-Steam cut? They walked away with about $560,000.
Sounds amazing, right? But context matters. This came after 3 years of development with a team of 4 people, plus $50,000 in marketing and $20,000 in engine licenses and tools. Still successful, but it shows how the numbers aren't always what they first appear to be.
The reality is you should plan for your actual revenue to be about 50-60% of your list price after everything - and during heavy sale periods, that might drop to 30-40%. But if the volume makes up for it, that could be exactly the right move for your game.
Understanding exactly how Steam's cut works, along with regional pricing, taxes, and the impact of sales, lets you plan better and price smarter. Steam brings real value with its massive player base, community features, automatic updates, regional payment processing, and fraud protection. The 30% isn't going anywhere, but knowing how to work with it can make all the difference.
Want to see exactly how all these factors might play out for your game? Check out our Steam Revenue Calculator tool - we've built in all these variables so you can see what you might actually earn across different regions, tax situations, and discount scenarios.
Looking for more detailed breakdowns of Steam sales performance? Check out our weekly analysis of top-performing indie games and their pricing strategies!*