How much revenue did Subnautica make?

$95.0M–$255.4M after Steam's roughly 30% cut, derived from the copies estimate and its price.

How many copies did Subnautica sell?

Q: How many copies did Subnautica sell?

11.5M to 18.7M copies, based on its 379k Steam reviews. This is a labeled estimate from the review count, not exact sales.

Estimated copies sold: ≈ 11.5M–18.7M; $95.0M–$255.4M after Steam's cut $172.7M–$393.0M before the cut; from 379k reviews (Overwhelmingly 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 Subnautica out and predicted the genre from its 8 similar games. Every figure here, including Subnautica's, is estimated from Steam reviews, not self-reported sales.

Copies, estimated from reviews

typical (middle half) 27.8M–34.2M

best case 128.5M (Terraria)

Games like Subnautica

The middle of these games

≈ 27.8M–34.2M copies

≈ $187.3M–$281.8M after Steam's cut

from ~612k 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.

Best case: Terraria at ≈ 97.9M–159.1M copies, ≈ $269.0M–$723.1M after Steam's cut. A breakout hit, far above a typical game.

The genre you'd be entering

Your set: Your set clusters on Survival (8 of 8) and Crafting (6 of 8).
The winners: Winners here lead with Survival + Crafting, priced around $25. The breakout hits carry Sandbox + PvP + 2D; a typical game here doesn't.
The era: The games you compared span 2011 to 2026, and 1 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 79 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
Dying Light 2015	Est. copies ≈ 24.1M–39.2M SteamSpy 10M–20M	Est. revenue $165.8M–$445.8M after Steam's cut $301.5M–$685.8M before the cut	$24.99	494k reviews Overwhelmingly Positive	ZombiesSurvival Horror
Don't Starve Together 2016	Est. copies ≈ 22.6M–36.7M SteamSpy 10M–20M	Est. revenue $93.0M–$250.0M after Steam's cut $169.0M–$384.6M before the cut	$14.99	542k reviews Very Positive	SurvivalOpen World Survival Craft
The Forest 2018	Est. copies ≈ 20.7M–33.6M 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
Dead by Daylight 2016	Est. copies ≈ 38.7M–62.9M 1.5x 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
Rust 2018	Est. copies ≈ 42.4M–68.9M 2.3x vs typical SteamSpy 20M–50M	Est. revenue $466.2M–$1253.5M after Steam's cut $847.6M–$1928.4M before the cut	$39.99	1.4M reviews Very Positive	SurvivalCrafting
Terraria 2011	Est. copies ≈ 97.9M–159.1M 2.5x vs typical SteamSpy 20M–50M	Est. revenue $269.0M–$723.1M after Steam's cut $489.0M–$1112.5M before the cut	$9.99	1.5M reviews Overwhelmingly Positive	Open World Survival CraftSandbox
Palworld 2026	Est. copies ≈ 12.0M–19.4M SteamSpy 50M–100M	Est. revenue $98.7M–$265.3M after Steam's cut $179.4M–$408.2M before the cut	$29.99	482k reviews Very Positive	Open WorldSurvival
ARK: Survival Evolved 2017	Est. copies ≈ 26.7M–43.4M SteamSpy 20M–50M	Est. revenue $110.1M–$296.0M after Steam's cut $200.2M–$455.4M before the cut	$14.99	776k reviews Very Positive	Open World Survival CraftSurvival