How much revenue did Physical Layer make?

$5k–$13k after Steam's roughly 30% cut, derived from the copies estimate and its price.

How many copies did Physical Layer sell?

Q: How many copies did Physical Layer sell?

2k to 3k copies, based on its 78 Steam reviews. This is a labeled estimate from the review count, not exact sales.

Estimated copies sold: ≈ 2k–3k; $5k–$13k after Steam's cut $9k–$20k before the cut; from 78 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 Physical Layer out and predicted the genre from its 8 similar games. Every figure here, including Physical Layer's, is estimated from Steam reviews, not self-reported sales.

Copies, estimated from reviews

typical (middle half) 34k–41k

best case 5.8M (Celeste)

Games like Physical Layer

The middle of these games

≈ 34k–41k copies

≈ $189k–$340k after Steam's cut

from ~1k reviews

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

3 of your 8 similar games are hits.

Best case: Celeste at ≈ 4.4M–7.2M copies, ≈ $24.5M–$65.8M 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 63 reviews in their first month; the spread ran 1 to 732.

Under about 100 in month one, almost nothing recovers.

The genre you'd be entering

Your set: Your set clusters on 2D Platformer (8 of 8) and Shooter (7 of 8).
The winners: Winners here lead with Precision Platformer + Platformer, priced around $20. The breakout hits carry Precision Platformer + Difficult + Pixel Graphics; a typical game here doesn't.
The era: The games you compared span 2018 to 2025, and 3 of your 8 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 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
Celeste 2018	Est. copies ≈ 4.4M–7.2M 130x vs typical SteamSpy 2M–5M	Est. revenue $24.5M–$65.8M after Steam's cut $44.5M–$101.2M before the cut	$19.99	146k reviews Overwhelmingly Positive	Precision PlatformerDifficult
The Shadow of Yidhra 2021	Est. copies ≈ 35k–56k SteamSpy 20k–50k	Est. revenue $105k–$282k after Steam's cut $191k–$434k before the cut	$10.99	1k reviews Very Positive	ActionRPG
Contra: Operation Galuga 2024	Est. copies ≈ 24k–39k SteamSpy 50k–100k	Est. revenue $264k–$711k after Steam's cut $481k–$1.1M before the cut	$39.99	969 reviews Very Positive	ActionArcade
Nitro Express 2025	Est. copies ≈ 28k–45k SteamSpy 20k–50k	Est. revenue $100k–$269k after Steam's cut $182k–$413k before the cut	$12.99	1k reviews Mostly Positive	Side Scroller2D Platformer
Gunborg: Dark Matters 2022	Est. copies ≈ 2k–3k too small to compare SteamSpy under 20k	Est. revenue $5k–$14k after Steam's cut $9k–$21k before the cut	$9.99	75 reviews Very Positive	Side Scroller2D Platformer
Spidersaurs 2022	Est. copies ≈ 2k–4k too small to compare SteamSpy under 20k	Est. revenue $12k–$32k after Steam's cut $22k–$50k before the cut	$19.99	88 reviews Mostly Positive	Precision Platformer2D Platformer
Chaotic Loop 2022	Est. copies ≈ 422–685 too small to compare SteamSpy under 20k	Est. revenue Free	Free	17 reviews Positive	Side Scroller2D Platformer
Haneda Girl 2025	Est. copies ≈ 2k–4k too small to compare SteamSpy under 20k	Est. revenue $10k–$26k after Steam's cut $17k–$39k before the cut	$14.99	93 reviews Very Positive	ActionShooter