How much revenue did Detective Dotson make?

$17k–$46k after Steam's roughly 30% cut, derived from the copies estimate and its price.

How many copies did Detective Dotson sell?

Q: How many copies did Detective Dotson sell?

4k to 7k copies, based on its 166 Steam reviews. This is a labeled estimate from the review count, not exact sales.

Estimated copies sold: ≈ 4k–7k; $17k–$46k after Steam's cut $31k–$70k before the cut; from 166 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 Detective Dotson out and predicted the genre from its 8 similar games. Every figure here, including Detective Dotson's, is estimated from Steam reviews, not self-reported sales.

Copies, estimated from reviews

typical (middle half) 2k–262k

best case 618k (A Little to the Left)

Games like Detective Dotson

The middle of these games

≈ 2k–262k copies

≈ $2k–$946k after Steam's cut

from ~884 reviews

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

4 of your 8 similar games are hits.

Best case: A Little to the Left at ≈ 471k–765k copies, ≈ $1.9M–$5.2M after Steam's cut.

What it took to get here

About half the games that made it here had over 38 reviews in their first month; the spread ran 4 to 580.

Under about 100 in month one, almost nothing recovers.

The genre you'd be entering

Your set: Your set clusters on Puzzle (6 of 8) and Wholesome (6 of 8).
The winners: Winners here lead with Puzzle + Wholesome, priced around $15.
The era: 4 of your 8 similar games shipped in the last two years, so this niche is actively shipping.

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 36 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
Agent A: A puzzle in disguise 2019	Est. copies ≈ 180k–292k 7.1x vs typical SteamSpy 200k–500k	Est. revenue $989k–$2.7M after Steam's cut $1.8M–$4.1M before the cut	$19.99	6k reviews Overwhelmingly Positive	LogicPoint & Click
A Little to the Left 2022	Est. copies ≈ 471k–765k 21x vs typical SteamSpy 200k–500k	Est. revenue $1.9M–$5.2M after Steam's cut $3.5M–$8.0M before the cut	$14.99	19k reviews Very Positive	PuzzleRelaxing
Down in Bermuda 2021	Est. copies ≈ 41k–67k 1.9x vs typical SteamSpy under 20k	Est. revenue $226k–$608k after Steam's cut $411k–$936k before the cut	$19.99	2k reviews Very Positive	PuzzleHidden Object
Maple & Rufus: The Water Robbery 2024	Est. copies ≈ 446–725 SteamSpy under 20k	Est. revenue $244–$657 after Steam's cut $444–$1k before the cut	$1.99	18 reviews Positive	Escape RoomPuzzle
Kind Words (lo fi chill beats to write to) 2019	Est. copies ≈ 259k–420k 10x vs typical SteamSpy 200k–500k	Est. revenue $355k–$954k after Steam's cut $645k–$1.5M before the cut	$4.99	9k reviews Overwhelmingly Positive	EmotionalRelaxing
100 Forest Cats 2025	Est. copies ≈ 2k–4k SteamSpy under 20k	Est. revenue $1k–$3k after Steam's cut $2k–$5k before the cut	$1.99	95 reviews Very Positive	Point & ClickFree to Play
100 Crime Cats 2025	Est. copies ≈ 3k–4k SteamSpy under 20k	Est. revenue $1k–$4k after Steam's cut $3k–$6k before the cut	$1.99	108 reviews Very Positive	Free to PlayCasual
White Cat Town Mystery 2024	Est. copies ≈ 174–282 SteamSpy under 20k	Est. revenue $191–$512 after Steam's cut $347–$788 before the cut	$3.99	7 reviews 7 user reviews	Early AccessVisual Novel