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How many copies did Sam & Max 101: Culture Shock sell?

Estimated copies sold
≈ 32k–52k
from 510 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 Sam & Max 101: Culture Shock out and predicted the genre from its 8 similar games. Every figure here, including Sam & Max 101: Culture Shock's, is estimated from Steam reviews, not self-reported sales.

Copies, estimated from reviews

typical (middle half) 1.3M–1.4M
best case 1.7M (Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy)
Games like Sam & Max 101: Culture Shock

The middle of these games

≈ 1.3M–1.4M copies

≈ $6.2M–$7.8M after Steam's cut

from ~16k 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 Cult Classic (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: Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy at ≈ 1.3M–2.1M copies, ≈ $10.7M–$28.6M 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 5k reviews in their first month; the spread ran 5k to 9k.
The genre you'd be entering
Your set
Your set clusters on Cult Classic (4 of 8) and Story Rich (3 of 8).
The winners
Winners here lead with Detective + Visual Novel, priced around $45.
The era
The games you compared span 2002 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

Psychonauts
2006
Est. copies
≈ 1.2M–2.0M
SteamSpy 1M–2M
Est. revenue
$3.3M–$9.0M after Steam's cut $6.1M–$13.8M before the cut
$9.99
19k reviews
Very Positive
PlatformerComedy
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy
2019
Est. copies
≈ 1.3M–2.1M
2.7x vs typical
SteamSpy 1M–2M
Est. revenue
$10.7M–$28.6M after Steam's cut $19.4M–$44.1M before the cut
$29.99
45k reviews
Overwhelmingly Positive
DetectiveVisual Novel
SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom - Rehydrated
2020
Est. copies
≈ 451k–733k
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Est. revenue
$3.7M–$10.0M after Steam's cut $6.8M–$15.4M before the cut
$29.99
18k reviews
Very Positive
3D PlatformerAdventure
Deus Ex: Game of the Year Edition
2007
Est. copies
≈ 986k–1.6M
SteamSpy 1M–2M
Est. revenue
$1.9M–$5.1M after Steam's cut $3.4M–$7.8M before the cut
$6.99
16k reviews
Very Positive
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NieR Replicant™ ver.1.22474487139...
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≈ 703k–1.1M
1.7x vs typical
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$11.6M–$31.2M after Steam's cut $21.1M–$48.0M before the cut
$59.99
28k reviews
Very Positive
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Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines
2007
Est. copies
≈ 970k–1.6M
SteamSpy 500k–1M
Est. revenue
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$19.99
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RPGVampire
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2002
Est. copies
≈ 1.0M–1.7M
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$4.2M–$11.4M after Steam's cut $7.7M–$17.6M before the cut
$14.99
16k reviews
Very Positive
ActionStory Rich
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Est. copies
≈ 674k–1.1M
1.7x vs typical
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Free
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Free to PlayMMORPG

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