Sign in
wishvane

How many copies did Half-Life: Alyx sell?

Estimated copies sold
≈ 2.6M–4.2M
$43.0M–$115.5M after Steam's cut $78.1M–$177.7M before the cut
from 105k 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 Half-Life: Alyx out and predicted the genre from its 8 similar games. Every figure here, including Half-Life: Alyx's, is estimated from Steam reviews, not self-reported sales.

Copies, estimated from reviews

typical (middle half) 3.2M–8.9M
best case 64.7M (War Thunder)
Games like Half-Life: Alyx

The middle of these games

≈ 3.2M–8.9M copies

≈ $60.5M–$87.8M after Steam's cut

from ~126k 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: War Thunder at ≈ 49.3M–80.1M copies. A breakout hit, far above a typical game.

The genre you'd be entering
Your set
Your set clusters on VR (6 of 8) and First-Person (4 of 8).
The winners
Winners here lead with Simulation + Vehicular Combat. The breakout hits carry Vehicular Combat + World War II + Flight; a typical game here doesn't.
The era
The games you compared span 2013 to 2021, 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

SteamVR
unreleased
Est. copies
≈ 2.1M–3.5M
SteamSpy 1M–2M
Est. revenue
Free
Free
86k reviews
Very Positive
VRSoftware
War Thunder
2013
Est. copies
≈ 49.3M–80.1M
6.2x vs typical
SteamSpy 20M–50M
Est. revenue
Free
Free
780k reviews
Mostly Positive
Free to PlaySimulation
Resident Evil 7 Biohazard
2017
Est. copies
≈ 4.3M–7.1M
SteamSpy 2M–5M
Est. revenue
$23.9M–$64.1M after Steam's cut $43.4M–$98.7M before the cut
$19.99
126k reviews
Overwhelmingly Positive
Assetto Corsa
2014
Est. copies
≈ 9.7M–15.8M
SteamSpy 5M–10M
Est. revenue
$53.4M–$143.6M after Steam's cut $97.1M–$220.9M before the cut
$19.99
173k reviews
Very Positive
RacingAutomobile Sim
Totally Accurate Battlegrounds
2018
Est. copies
≈ 2.7M–4.3M
SteamSpy 2M–5M
Est. revenue
Free
Free
88k reviews
Very Positive
MultiplayerPhysics
VRChat
2017
Est. copies
≈ 9.2M–15.0M
2.1x vs typical
SteamSpy 20M–50M
Est. revenue
Free
Free
268k reviews
Mostly Positive
VRFree to Play
Rec Room
2021
Est. copies
≈ 2.1M–3.4M
SteamSpy 2M–5M
Est. revenue
Free
Free
83k reviews
Very Positive
Free to PlayVR
Resident Evil Village
2021
Est. copies
≈ 3.8M–6.2M
SteamSpy 2M–5M
Est. revenue
$41.8M–$112.3M after Steam's cut $76.0M–$172.8M before the cut
$39.99
153k reviews
Overwhelmingly Positive

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