How much revenue did Zen Chess: Mate in Four make?

$580–$2k after Steam's roughly 30% cut, derived from the copies estimate and its price.

How many copies did Zen Chess: Mate in Four sell?

Q: How many copies did Zen Chess: Mate in Four sell?

2k to 3k copies, based on its 74 Steam reviews. This is a labeled estimate from the review count, not exact sales.

Estimated copies sold: ≈ 2k–3k; $580–$2k after Steam's cut $1k–$2k before the cut; from 74 reviews (Mixed)

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 Zen Chess: Mate in Four out and predicted the genre from its 8 similar games. Every figure here, including Zen Chess: Mate in Four's, is estimated from Steam reviews, not self-reported sales.

Copies, estimated from reviews

typical (middle half) 2k–3k

best case 18k (Zen Chess: Mate in One)

Games like Zen Chess: Mate in Four

The middle of these games

≈ 2k–3k copies

≈ $1k–$2k after Steam's cut

from ~69 reviews

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

None of your 8 similar games are hits.

Best case: Zen Chess: Mate in One at ≈ 14k–23k copies, ≈ $4k–$10k after Steam's cut. A breakout hit, far above a typical game.

What it took to get here

About half the games that made it here had over 17 reviews in their first month; the spread ran 5 to 27.

Under about 100 in month one, almost nothing recovers.

The genre you'd be entering

Your set: Your set clusters on Chess (8 of 8) and Puzzle (8 of 8).
The winners: Winners here lead with Chess + Puzzle, priced around $1. The breakout hits carry Minimalist + Relaxing + Casual; a typical game here doesn't.
The era: None of the games you compared shipped in the last two years; the newest is from 2023. That says more about your picks than about the market, so add newer similar games to read the timing.

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 38 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
BOT.vinnik Chess: Mid-Century USSR Championships 2021	Est. copies ≈ 868–1k SteamSpy under 20k	Est. revenue $475–$1k after Steam's cut $864–$2k before the cut	$1.99	35 reviews Positive	ChessStrategy
BOT.vinnik Chess: Winning Patterns 2020	Est. copies ≈ 2k–3k SteamSpy under 20k	Est. revenue $1k–$3k after Steam's cut $2k–$5k before the cut	$1.99	84 reviews Very Positive	ChessPuzzle
BOT.vinnik Chess: Opening Traps 2020	Est. copies ≈ 2k–3k SteamSpy under 20k	Est. revenue $936–$3k after Steam's cut $2k–$4k before the cut	$1.99	69 reviews Very Positive	ChessArtificial Intelligence
Stress Chess 2023	Est. copies ≈ 1k–2k SteamSpy under 20k	Est. revenue $1k–$3k after Steam's cut $2k–$5k before the cut	$2.99	54 reviews Mostly Positive	ChessEducation
The Chess Variants Club 2020	Est. copies ≈ 1k–2k SteamSpy under 20k	Est. revenue $2k–$5k after Steam's cut $3k–$8k before the cut	$4.99	55 reviews Very Positive	ChessTurn-Based Tactics
Zen Chess: Mate in Two 2019	Est. copies ≈ 4k–6k 1.8x vs typical SteamSpy under 20k	Est. revenue $996–$3k after Steam's cut $2k–$4k before the cut	$0.99	127 reviews Very Positive	ChessMinimalist
Zen Chess: Mate in One 2018	Est. copies ≈ 14k–23k 6.7x vs typical SteamSpy under 20k	Est. revenue $4k–$10k after Steam's cut $7k–$16k before the cut	$0.99	463 reviews Very Positive	ChessMinimalist
Zen Chess: Mate in Three 2019	Est. copies ≈ 2k–4k SteamSpy under 20k	Est. revenue $588–$2k after Steam's cut $1k–$2k before the cut	$0.99	75 reviews Mostly Positive	ChessMinimalist