Steam tag
Estimated revenue, market economics, and the top games tagged Retro on Steam.
Share of Retro games by estimated lifetime revenue. Averages hide this — a few hits pull the mean far above what a typical game in the genre makes.
For developers
Total estimated revenue of Retro games, grouped by the year they launched — a release-cohort trend, not a live time-series. Recent years are still accumulating revenue after launch.
Leaderboard
Modeled estimate, not reported sales
| Year | Releases | Median rev | $100k+ | $1M+ | Total genre revenue |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 2.3K | approximately $456 | approximately 4% | approximately 1% | approximately $81.1M |
| 2025 | 2.3K | approximately $727 | approximately 6% | approximately 1% | approximately $219M |
| 2024 | 1.8K | approximately $723 | approximately 6% | approximately 2% | approximately $147.2M |
| 2023 | 1.5K | approximately $613 | approximately 7% | approximately 1% | approximately $134.2M |
| 2022 | 1.4K | approximately $697 | approximately 7% | approximately 2% | approximately $114.3M |
| 2021 | 1.2K | approximately $760 | approximately 6% | approximately 1% | approximately $73.8M |
| 2020 | 941 | approximately $636 | approximately 6% | approximately 1% | approximately $146.9M |
| 2019 | 691 | approximately $1.8K | approximately 10% | approximately 2% | approximately $70.8M |
| 2018 | 634 | approximately $2.9K | approximately 10% | approximately 3% | approximately $173.1M |
| 2017 | 505 | approximately $5.9K | approximately 11% | approximately 3% | approximately $142.3M |
| 2016 | 318 | approximately $13.5K | approximately 20% | approximately 3% | approximately $49.2M |
| 2015 | 286 | approximately $16.5K | approximately 22% | approximately 5% | approximately $159.4M |
Median beats average here: genre revenue is hit-driven, so the median shows what the typical Retro launch actually earned. Recent years accumulate revenue for a while after launch.
| 3 |
CupheadSteam |
| approximately $63M |
| 221.7K |
| 96% |
| $19.99 |
| 4 | UndertaleSteam | approximately $55.3M | 342.7K | 97% | $9.99 |
| 5 | CelesteSteam | approximately $46.8M | 147.7K | 97% | $19.99 |
| 6 | Half-LifeSteam | approximately $32.5M | 164.3K | 96% | $9.99 |
| 7 | Pizza TowerSteam | approximately $30.2M | 72.7K | 98% | $19.99 |
| 8 | Two Point HospitalSteam | approximately $29M | 35K | 92% | $29.99 |
| 9 | Hotline MiamiSteam | approximately $25.4M | 128.4K | 97% | $9.99 |
| 10 | approximately $24.6M | 80.4K | 94% | $14.99 |
| 11 | MegabonkSteam | approximately $24.1M | 106.3K | 94% | $5.99 |
| 12 | Vampire SurvivorsSteam | approximately $23.2M | 265.9K | 98% | $4.99 |
| 13 | To the MoonSteam | approximately $19.6M | 86.5K | 96% | $9.99 |
| 14 | Katana ZEROSteam | approximately $19M | 76.2K | 98% | $14.99 |
| 15 | BroforceSteam | approximately $18.7M | 61K | 97% | $14.99 |
| 16 | approximately $17.7M | 22.3K | 92% | $39.99 |
| 17 | Rivals of AetherSteam | approximately $17M | 38.2K | 96% | $29.99 |
| 18 | Cruelty SquadSteam | approximately $16M | 23.2K | 96% | $19.99 |
| 19 | approximately $15M | 16.9K | 96% | $39.99 |
| 20 | No, I'm not a HumanSteam | approximately $15M | 31K | 93% | $14.99 |
| 21 | Papers, PleaseSteam | approximately $13.7M | 80.6K | 97% | $9.99 |
| 22 | ANIMAL WELLSteam | approximately $13.4M | 24.6K | 96% | $17.49 |
| 23 | SANABISteam | approximately $13M | 45.2K | 97% | $14.99 |
| 24 | Sonic ManiaSteam | approximately $11.4M | 28.9K | 94% | $19.99 |
| 25 | Duck GameSteam | approximately $11.3M | 39.1K | 97% | $12.99 |
| 26 | Dome KeeperSteam | approximately $11.1M | 22.5K | 92% | $17.99 |
| 27 | Super Meat BoySteam | approximately $10.9M | 39.2K | 94% | $14.99 |
| 28 | MOUSE: P.I. For HireSteam | approximately $10.8M | 15.8K | 94% | $23.99 |
| 29 | Songs of ConquestSteam | approximately $10.5M | 12.1K | 86% | $29.99 |
| 30 | approximately $10.4M | 35.3K | 97% | $19.99 |
| 31 | approximately $10.4M | 15.5K | 88% | $34.99 |
| 32 | PeglinSteam | approximately $10.3M | 17.7K | 84% | $19.99 |
| 33 | CloverPitSteam | approximately $9.5M | 26.1K | 90% | $9.99 |
| 34 | AsepriteSteam | approximately $9.3M | 27K | 99% | $19.99 |
| 35 | Gothic 1Steam | approximately $9.1M | 18.3K | 93% | $19.99 |
| 36 | MouthwashingSteam | approximately $8.9M | 38.8K | 95% | $12.99 |
| 37 | Streets of Rage 4Steam | approximately $8.9M | 19.8K | 92% | $24.99 |
| 38 | approximately $8.8M | 26.5K | 95% | $14.99 |
| 39 | FortsSteam | approximately $8.8M | 25.4K | 92% | $14.99 |
| 40 | approximately $8.5M | 18.3K | 89% | $21.99 |
| 41 | approximately $8.3M | 10.5K | 96% | $19.90 |
| 42 | MECCHA CHAMELEONSteam | approximately $8.1M | 89.5K | 88% | $5.99 |
| 43 | approximately $7.6M | 7.8K | 24% | $35.01 |
| 44 | ParkitectSteam | approximately $7.2M | 8.2K | 94% | $29.99 |
| 45 | DOOM + DOOM IISteam | approximately $7.2M | 29.1K | 97% | $9.99 |
| 46 | Sonic Adventure 2Steam | approximately $7.1M | 28.6K | 89% | $9.99 |
| 47 | CrossCodeSteam | approximately $6.5M | 16.4K | 92% | $19.99 |
| 48 | Nova DriftSteam | approximately $6.4M | 14.6K | 96% | $17.99 |
| 49 | approximately $6.2M | 15.7K | 84% | $19.99 |
| 50 | UFO 50Steam | approximately $6M | 7.5K | 95% | $24.99 |