Compare Playstack and secret mode on Steam performance

Playstack's 17 Steam games have grossed $173.7M in lifetime premium revenue versus $129.1M across Secret Mode's 28 games, per Steam estimates (as of 2026-10-09) — but Secret Mode's per-game median is $646K against Playstack's $2.1M, a roughly 3x gap in typical title performance.

Head-to-head Steam comparison

These are Steam figures only; console sales are not included, and free-to-play in-game purchases are not included in the revenue estimates.

Revenue spread detail (Steam estimates, 2026-10-09): all 17 of Playstack's released games earned premium revenue, while 26 of Secret Mode's 28 released games earned premium revenue — 2 show none (2 free-to-play).

Top five titles by lifetime Steam premium revenue (Steam estimates, 2026-10-09):

What the library says about Playstack's titles

GameDiscoverCo's coverage of Abiotic Factor — "the 'co-op x Half-Life-adjacent look x exploration x crafting' title from developer Deep Field Games and publisher Playstack ([Balatro], [Mortal Shell])" — reports that "the 1.0 release has been a v.useful $ boost on Steam, bringing total Abiotic Factor sales to >1.4 million copies (per Playstack)" (2025)1. The same article notes that "PS+ and Xbox Game Pass launch deals added revenue, too," and that "Playstack's parent company reported H1 profit up 125% to $9m, citing 'in particular… the full launch of Abiotic Factor… in July 2025.'"1

An earlier GameDiscoverCo piece (2024) documented Playstack's launch playbook for the same game: the publisher "spent a lot of time targeting streamers, based on them playing Abiotic Factor's demo, as well as influencers who enjoyed Lethal Company & Content Warning," was "very generous with key distribution," and "allocated marketing budget to 'a select few sponsored streams at launch', based on content/vibe match"2.

What the library says about Secret Mode's titles

GameDiscoverCo's 2023 launch-week note on Still Wakes the Deep — "The Chinese Room and Secret Mode's" title, "$35, also on PlayStation, Xbox, Epic Games Store and Game Pass" — found it "had an OK start - almost 1,000 CCU and 610 Very Positive reviews," adding that "some people really love it, and others have 'walking simulator' or length gripes - it's tricky to scale this genre majorly"3.

On A Little to the Left, GameDiscoverCo (2023) quoted Secret Mode's Matthew Pellett: "We launched the game's first premium DLC on June 27th - A Little to the Left: Cupboards & Drawers." The article describes it as "a $5 add-on" with "lots more sorting-centric puzzles," announced during Nintendo's Indie World in April and bundled with the base game on launch4. The same article notes the base game "had already sold >300,000 units across Steam and Switch" as of February of that year4.

A 2025 industry finance round-up lists Secret Mode among companies hiring, seeking an "Influencer Relations Manager"5.

Web-source figures on both publishers

Web sources give figures that differ from the Steam estimates above. Game Developer (via web) reports that "the combined Playstack catalog has now grossed over $100 million in lifetime revenue on Steam"6 — against the $173.7M lifetime figure in the Steam estimates (2026-10-09). A publisher-tracking page lists Secret Mode as having "Published Games: 27 (3 in development)"? — against the 28 published games in the Steam estimates.

Secret Mode's own Steam publisher page describes it as a "Multiple Indie Publisher of the Year winner, working on STAR WARS: Galactic Racer™, Escape the Backrooms, Chained Together, A Little to the Left ..."7. GamesIndustry.biz characterises its strategy: "The UK publisher is embracing both high-budget, IP-led games like Star Wars: Galactic Racer and low-budget experimental indies"8.

The available sources do not provide a like-for-like, same-period revenue comparison of the two publishers beyond the Steam estimates and the web figures above.