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How many copies did Alan Wake sell?

Estimated copies sold
≈ 3.7M–6.1M
$15.4M–$41.4M after Steam's cut $28.0M–$63.7M before the cut
from 59k reviews (Very Positive)

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 Alan Wake out and predicted the genre from its 8 similar games. Every figure here, including Alan Wake's, is estimated from Steam reviews, not self-reported sales.

Copies, estimated from reviews

typical (middle half) 8.6M–25.6M
best case 124.1M (PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS)
Games like Alan Wake

The middle of these games

≈ 8.6M–25.6M copies

≈ $104.0M–$301.0M after Steam's cut

from ~275k reviews

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

All 8 of your similar games are hits.

No genre covers most of your similar games. The closest is Horror (4 of 8), so the genre you lead with is still undecided.

Of the 416 indie games that passed 1,000 reviews in 2022, 11.8% were novel genre mixes and 88.2% stuck to an established genre. Published indie market research.

Best case: PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS at ≈ 94.5M–153.6M copies. A breakout hit, far above a typical game.

The genre you'd be entering
Your set
Your set clusters on Horror (4 of 8) and Survival (4 of 8).
The winners
Winners here lead with Survival + Shooter. The breakout hits carry Shooter + Battle Royale + FPS; a typical game here doesn't.
The era
The games you compared span 2015 to 2023, and none of them 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

The Forest
2018
Est. copies
≈ 20.7M–33.6M
2.5x vs typical
SteamSpy 20M–50M
Est. revenue
$113.8M–$305.9M after Steam's cut $206.9M–$470.7M before the cut
$19.99
681k reviews
Overwhelmingly Positive
Open World Survival CraftSurvival
Stray
2022
Est. copies
≈ 4.4M–7.2M
SteamSpy 5M–10M
Est. revenue
$36.3M–$97.6M after Steam's cut $66.0M–$150.1M before the cut
$29.99
177k reviews
Overwhelmingly Positive
CatsAdventure
PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS
2017
Est. copies
≈ 94.5M–153.6M
10x vs typical
SteamSpy 100M–200M
Est. revenue
Free
Free
2.7M reviews
Mixed
SurvivalShooter
Dead by Daylight
2016
Est. copies
≈ 38.7M–62.9M
3.4x vs typical
SteamSpy 20M–50M
Est. revenue
$212.7M–$571.8M after Steam's cut $386.7M–$879.7M before the cut
$19.99
930k reviews
Mostly Positive
HorrorMultiplayer
Resident Evil 4
2023
Est. copies
≈ 6.8M–11.1M
SteamSpy 5M–10M
Est. revenue
$74.9M–$201.3M after Steam's cut $136.1M–$309.7M before the cut
$39.99
275k reviews
Overwhelmingly Positive
HorrorAction
DARK SOULS™ III
2016
Est. copies
≈ 18.3M–29.7M
1.6x vs typical
SteamSpy 5M–10M
Est. revenue
$301.6M–$810.8M after Steam's cut $548.3M–$1247.4M before the cut
$59.99
439k reviews
Very Positive
Souls-likeDark Fantasy
Batman™: Arkham Knight
2015
Est. copies
≈ 7.8M–12.6M
SteamSpy 2M–5M
Est. revenue
$42.7M–$114.8M after Steam's cut $77.7M–$176.7M before the cut
$19.99
159k reviews
Very Positive
ActionOpen World
Resident Evil 2
2019
Est. copies
≈ 6.4M–10.4M
SteamSpy 5M–10M
Est. revenue
$70.1M–$188.4M after Steam's cut $127.4M–$289.8M before the cut
$39.99
221k reviews
Overwhelmingly Positive
ZombiesSurvival Horror

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