Analysts Report Drop in Game Revenue on Steam Despite Growing Number of Releases

Layoffs, studio closures, rising game prices – it doesn't take a genius to see that most, if not all, of the major problems the game industry faces nowadays stem from one thing and one thing only: money. Backing this up is Gamalytic, a website specializing in Steam analytics, whose analysis of Steam games' performance in 2025 puts numbers to the financial challenges many developers and publishers might be facing.

According to the analysis (thanks, Artur Smiarowski), even though the total number of games released on Steam in 2025 was higher than in any of the past six years except 2024, both total and average revenues fell, reaching $4.7 billion and $358,900, respectively – the lowest figures from 2020 to 2025.

The passing year also recorded the second-lowest median revenue of $249 during this period, outperformed – or rather, underperformed – only by 2024's $222. While it is possible to argue that 2025 isn't over yet and still has several major releases ahead, including what could be considered a "guaranteed financial success" in Call of Duty: Black Ops 7, there aren't too many of them, and it's unlikely that Steam games in 2025 will come close to 2024's total revenue of $7.6 billion.

Regarding revenue distribution, the report shows that 66% of games earned their creators less than $1,000, while only 9.9% brought in $50,000 or more. As Artur Smiarowski points out, 40% of games didn't even recoup the $100 fee for publishing on Steam, let alone the costs of development and marketing.

Furthermore, the analysis reveals that nearly half of all games released on Steam in 2025 – 47.5% to be precise – sold fewer than 100 copies. Another 28% sold between 100 and 1,000 units, 16% between 1,000 and 10,000, 5.4% between 10,000 and 50,000, 1.2% between 50,000 and 100,000, and only 1.8% exceeded 100,000 copies.

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