How much revenue did Desert Child make?

$36k–$96k after Steam's roughly 30% cut, derived from the copies estimate and its price.

How many copies did Desert Child sell?

Q: How many copies did Desert Child sell?

11k to 18k copies, based on its 355 Steam reviews. This is a labeled estimate from the review count, not exact sales.

Estimated copies sold: ≈ 11k–18k; $36k–$96k after Steam's cut $65k–$147k before the cut; from 355 reviews (Mixed)

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 Desert Child out and predicted the genre from its 7 similar games. Every figure here, including Desert Child's, is estimated from Steam reviews, not self-reported sales.

Copies, estimated from reviews

typical (middle half) 6k–40k

best case 51k (Instruments of Destruction)

Games like Desert Child

The middle of these games

≈ 6k–40k copies

≈ $30k–$55k after Steam's cut

from ~736 reviews

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

2 of your 7 similar games are hits.

Best case: Instruments of Destruction at ≈ 39k–63k copies, ≈ $214k–$575k after Steam's cut.

What it took to get here

About half the games that made it here had over 322 reviews in their first month; the spread ran 26 to 1k.

The genre you'd be entering

Your set: Your set clusters on Action-Adventure (4 of 7) and Racing (4 of 7).
The winners: Winners here lead with Destruction + Physics, priced around $20.
The era: The games you compared span 2017 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 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

Game	Est. copies	Est. revenue	Price	Reviews	Tags
Instruments of Destruction 2024	Est. copies ≈ 39k–63k 2.1x vs typical SteamSpy 20k–50k	Est. revenue $214k–$575k after Steam's cut $389k–$884k before the cut	$19.99	2k reviews Very Positive	DestructionPhysics
Precursors 2017	Est. copies ≈ 4k–6k SteamSpy under 20k	Est. revenue $16k–$44k after Steam's cut $30k–$67k before the cut	$14.99	115 reviews Mixed	ExplorationHero Shooter
Epic Roller Coasters 2018	Est. copies ≈ 24k–39k SteamSpy 200k–500k	Est. revenue Free	Free	784 reviews Mixed	Free to PlaySimulation
Scrapland Remastered 2021	Est. copies ≈ 3k–5k SteamSpy 20k–50k	Est. revenue $16k–$43k after Steam's cut $29k–$67k before the cut	$19.99	118 reviews Very Positive	MultiplayerAction
Cart Racer 2017	Est. copies ≈ 37k–61k SteamSpy 50k–100k	Est. revenue $21k–$55k after Steam's cut $37k–$85k before the cut	$1.99	1k reviews Mostly Positive	IndieAction
Let It Flow 2021	Est. copies ≈ 18k–30k SteamSpy 50k–100k	Est. revenue Free	Free	736 reviews Very Positive	ActionRacing
Just Ride：Apparent Horizon 狂飙：极限视界 2019	Est. copies ≈ 5k–9k SteamSpy under 20k	Est. revenue $30k–$80k after Steam's cut $54k–$123k before the cut	$19.99	188 reviews Mostly Positive	ViolentAction