How much revenue did The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition make?

$172.0M–$462.5M after Steam's roughly 30% cut, derived from the copies estimate and its price.

How many copies did The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition sell?

Q: How many copies did The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition sell?

15.6M to 25.4M copies, based on its 376k Steam reviews. This is a labeled estimate from the review count, not exact sales.

Estimated copies sold: ≈ 15.6M–25.4M; $172.0M–$462.5M after Steam's cut $312.8M–$711.6M before the cut; from 376k 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 The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition out and predicted the genre from its 7 similar games. Every figure here, including The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition's, is estimated from Steam reviews, not self-reported sales.

Copies, estimated from reviews

typical (middle half) 37.2M–103.3M

best case 132.9M (Grand Theft Auto V Legacy)

Games like The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition

The middle of these games

≈ 37.2M–103.3M copies

≈ $522.7M–$868.0M after Steam's cut

from ~975k reviews

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

All 7 of your similar games are hits.

Best case: Grand Theft Auto V Legacy at ≈ 101.3M–164.6M copies.

The genre you'd be entering

Your set: Your set clusters on Open World (5 of 7) and Story Rich (3 of 7).
The winners: Winners here lead with Open World + Crime.
The era: The games you compared span 2011 to 2024, and 1 of your 7 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
Grand Theft Auto V Legacy 2015	Est. copies ≈ 101.3M–164.6M 2.1x vs typical SteamSpy 50M–100M	Est. revenue Free	Free	2.1M reviews Very Positive	Open WorldAction
Black Myth: Wukong 2024	Est. copies ≈ 30.0M–48.7M SteamSpy 50M–100M	Est. revenue $494.5M–$1329.5M after Steam's cut $899.1M–$2045.4M before the cut	$59.99	1.2M reviews Overwhelmingly Positive	MythologyAction RPG
Cyberpunk 2077 2020	Est. copies ≈ 24.2M–39.3M SteamSpy 20M–50M	Est. revenue $399.0M–$1072.8M after Steam's cut $725.5M–$1650.4M before the cut	$59.99	975k reviews Very Positive	CyberpunkOpen World
Terraria 2011	Est. copies ≈ 97.9M–159.1M 1.6x 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
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
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt - Complete Edition 2015	Est. copies ≈ 43.2M–70.2M SteamSpy 20M–50M	Est. revenue $593.9M–$1596.9M after Steam's cut $1079.9M–$2456.7M before the cut	$49.99	885k reviews Overwhelmingly Positive	Open WorldRPG
Euro Truck Simulator 2 2012	Est. copies ≈ 59.4M–96.6M SteamSpy 10M–20M	Est. revenue $326.7M–$878.4M after Steam's cut $594.0M–$1351.4M before the cut	$19.99	940k reviews Overwhelmingly Positive	DrivingTransportation