Steam gross to net: what remains from $150,000 in game sales

A worked example of refunds, Valve’s share, studio costs and the number of copies needed to break even.

Start with the period and the price

Imagine a paid game sells 10,000 copies at an average price of $15 during one reporting period. The example assumes that this price already reflects the regional sales mix. There is no additional discount in the model. Sales before refunds are $150,000. These are invented planning inputs, not the disclosed results of a real game.

Apply each deduction to its own base

Assume refunds and chargebacks remove 5% of the payment value: $7,500. Consumer tax is set to zero for this example, leaving $142,500 before Valve’s share. Zero is a modelling assumption, not a statement about where the studio is established. At a 30% platform share, Valve’s portion is $42,750 and the remaining receipts are $99,750.

Separate studio receipts from the result after costs

There is no publisher or outstanding recoup balance in this first scenario. The studio therefore receives the modelled $99,750 before unentered deductions. Its own development and marketing costs are $50,000, leaving $49,750 after those stated costs. This figure excludes unmodelled income taxes, bank charges and other expenses. A Steam statement, a studio profit-and-loss statement and a bank transfer can therefore show different amounts without any arithmetic contradiction.

Check break-even at the boundary

Under the same assumptions, each additional copy contributes $15 × 95% × 70% = $9.975 before the studio’s fixed costs. At 5,012 copies, receipts are $49,994.70, which is $5.30 short. At 5,013 copies, receipts are $50,004.675, which covers the $50,000 cost. The minimum whole number is therefore 5,013. Monetary results display to two decimal places; the model keeps the underlying precision when finding the boundary.

Change one assumption at a time

If you enter an average selling price already reduced for discounts, leave the separate discount input at zero. If your price includes consumer tax, use the included-tax mode rather than subtracting the tax percentage directly. For example, $12 inclusive of 20% tax contains $2 of tax: $12 ÷ 1.20 = $10. The review-based estimate is a different starting point: it provides possible copies and sales value, not your private Steam sales ledger.

Use the same figures in a discussion

Open the linked scenario, change the price, refund assumption or costs, then save a comparison. For a publisher deal, add the outstanding recoup balance and the publisher’s share. Do not put the same publisher-funded amount into both recoup and the studio’s own costs. The report preserves the inputs so that another person can reproduce the calculation.