The Median Revenue of Games on Steam Has Been Declining for 12 Consecutive Years

The median revenue for games released on Steam has experienced a consistent decline over the past 12 years, highlighting a growing disparity in the platform's economic landscape. As of 2026, the median revenue for a new title has dropped to $1,728, a significant decrease from the approximately $15,000 median observed in 2016. This trend is driven by a catalog growth rate that consistently outpaces the platform's total revenue, leading to an increasingly saturated marketplace.

Data analysis reveals a high level of market concentration, characterized by a Gini coefficient of 0.984. The findings indicate that 1% of games generate 84.6% of total revenue, while 10% of titles account for 98.81% of all earnings. Conversely, 60.7% of games fail to exceed $10,000 in lifetime revenue, and only 14.4% of titles reach the $100,000 threshold. Success rates vary significantly by genre; sandbox, first-person shooter, and role-playing games demonstrate the highest likelihood of reaching the $100,000 mark, whereas racing, puzzle, arcade, and platformer titles frequently report median earnings of $1,000 or less.

Conducted by industry experts from Totally Human Media using data from the We Love It platform, the study underscores the challenges facing developers in an environment where the sheer volume of new releases—17.2 thousand by September 2026 alone—continues to dilute individual project performance. The research concludes that the current economic structure of the store heavily favors a small minority of high-performing titles, leaving the vast majority of developers to compete for a shrinking share of the total market revenue.