Sign in
wishvane

How many copies did RimWorld sell?

Estimated copies sold
≈ 7.5M–12.1M
$71.8M–$193.1M after Steam's cut $130.6M–$297.1M before the cut
from 246k 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 RimWorld out and predicted the genre from its 8 similar games. Every figure here, including RimWorld's, is estimated from Steam reviews, not self-reported sales.

Copies, estimated from reviews

typical (middle half) 884k–1.1M
best case 5.4M (Oxygen Not Included)
Games like RimWorld

The middle of these games

≈ 884k–1.1M copies

≈ $10.1M–$12.3M after Steam's cut

from ~29k 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: Oxygen Not Included at ≈ 4.1M–6.7M copies, ≈ $28.4M–$76.4M 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 16k reviews in their first month; the spread ran 13k to 17k.
The genre you'd be entering
Your set
Your set clusters on Colony Sim (7 of 8) and City Builder (6 of 8).
The winners
Winners here lead with Colony Sim + Survival, priced around $30. The breakout hits carry Survival; a typical game here doesn't.
The era
The games you compared span 2017 to 2024, 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 43 for the oldest, then widened into a range; revenue rides on that estimate times price. Source: GameDiscoverCo (2020) and VG Insights (2021).

Similar games

They Are Billions
2019
Est. copies
≈ 1.5M–2.4M
1.8x vs typical
SteamSpy 2M–5M
Est. revenue
$12.2M–$32.8M after Steam's cut $22.2M–$50.5M before the cut
$29.99
51k reviews
Very Positive
Base-BuildingColony Sim
Surviving Mars
2018
Est. copies
≈ 873k–1.4M
SteamSpy 2M–5M
Est. revenue
Free
Free
29k reviews
Mostly Positive
Oxygen Not Included
2019
Est. copies
≈ 4.1M–6.7M
5.0x vs typical
SteamSpy 2M–5M
Est. revenue
$28.4M–$76.4M after Steam's cut $51.7M–$117.5M before the cut
$24.99
144k reviews
Overwhelmingly Positive
Colony SimBase-Building
Workers & Resources: Soviet Republic
2024
Est. copies
≈ 673k–1.1M
SteamSpy 500k–1M
Est. revenue
$7.4M–$19.9M after Steam's cut $13.5M–$30.6M before the cut
$39.99
27k reviews
Very Positive
StrategySimulation
Amazing Cultivation Simulator
2020
Est. copies
≈ 585k–951k
SteamSpy 500k–1M
Est. revenue
$4.0M–$10.8M after Steam's cut $7.3M–$16.6M before the cut
$24.99
24k reviews
Very Positive
SimulationMartial Arts
Frostpunk
2018
Est. copies
≈ 4.2M–6.8M
4.8x vs typical
SteamSpy 2M–5M
Est. revenue
$34.4M–$92.4M after Steam's cut $62.5M–$142.2M before the cut
$29.99
137k reviews
Very Positive
Kingdoms and Castles
2017
Est. copies
≈ 1.1M–1.8M
SteamSpy 1M–2M
Est. revenue
$5.9M–$16.0M after Steam's cut $10.8M–$24.6M before the cut
$19.99
31k reviews
Very Positive
Dwarf Fortress
2022
Est. copies
≈ 780k–1.3M
SteamSpy 2M–5M
Est. revenue
$6.4M–$17.3M after Steam's cut $11.7M–$26.6M before the cut
$29.99
31k reviews
Very Positive
DwarfColony Sim

Sizing up your own game? See what its genre can realistically do before you build it.