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How big is Life is Strange - Episode 1?

Estimated owners
≈ 8.6M–13.9M
from 176k 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 Life is Strange - Episode 1 out and predicted the genre from its 8 similar games. Every figure here, including Life is Strange - Episode 1's, is estimated from Steam reviews, not self-reported sales.

Copies, estimated from reviews

typical (middle half) 8.4M–12.9M
best case 38.6M (Portal 2)
Games like Life is Strange - Episode 1

The middle of these games

≈ 8.4M–12.9M copies

≈ $113.7M–$166.8M after Steam's cut

from ~205k 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 Female Protagonist (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: Portal 2 at ≈ 29.4M–47.8M copies, ≈ $80.8M–$217.4M after Steam's cut. A breakout hit, far above a typical game.

The genre you'd be entering
Your set
Your set clusters on Female Protagonist (4 of 8) and Story Rich (4 of 8).
The winners
Winners here lead with Platformer + Puzzle, priced around $10. The breakout hits carry Platformer + Dark Humor + Funny; a typical game here doesn't.
The era
The games you compared span 2007 to 2020, 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 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

Portal 2
2011
Est. copies
≈ 29.4M–47.8M
2.3x vs typical
SteamSpy 5M–10M
Est. revenue
$80.8M–$217.4M after Steam's cut $147.0M–$334.4M before the cut
$9.99
466k reviews
Overwhelmingly Positive
Portal
2007
Est. copies
≈ 12.5M–20.4M
SteamSpy 10M–20M
Est. revenue
$34.5M–$92.6M after Steam's cut $62.6M–$142.5M before the cut
$9.99
198k reviews
Overwhelmingly Positive
PuzzlePuzzle-Platformer
Tomb Raider Game of the Year
2013
Est. copies
≈ 17.0M–27.6M
SteamSpy 5M–10M
Est. revenue
$93.5M–$251.3M after Steam's cut $169.9M–$386.6M before the cut
$19.99
269k reviews
Overwhelmingly Positive
AdventureAction
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
Detroit: Become Human
2020
Est. copies
≈ 6.5M–10.5M
SteamSpy 2M–5M
Est. revenue
$71.2M–$191.3M after Steam's cut $129.4M–$294.4M before the cut
$39.99
261k reviews
Overwhelmingly Positive
Choices MatterStory Rich
Rise of the Tomb Raider™
2016
Est. copies
≈ 6.5M–10.5M
SteamSpy 2M–5M
Est. revenue
$53.2M–$143.0M after Steam's cut $96.7M–$220.1M before the cut
$29.99
155k reviews
Very Positive
AdventureAction
Assassin's Creed® Odyssey
2018
Est. copies
≈ 5.7M–9.3M
SteamSpy 5M–10M
Est. revenue
$94.2M–$253.2M after Steam's cut $171.3M–$389.6M before the cut
$59.99
188k reviews
Very Positive
Open WorldRPG
Divinity: Original Sin 2 - Definitive Edition
2017
Est. copies
≈ 7.1M–11.5M
SteamSpy 5M–10M
Est. revenue
$87.4M–$235.0M after Steam's cut $158.9M–$361.6M before the cut
$44.99
205k reviews
Overwhelmingly Positive
Tactical RPGRPG

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