Industry Pushes Back Against Valve’s Steam Profit Claims

At GDC this year Valve presented a bar chart suggesting more games are earning over $100,000 on Steam, rising from about 3,000 in 2020 to 5,863 in 2025. Many in the games industry found the presentation misleading and irritating, arguing it creates the impression that the platform is working well for small developers when a closer look tells a different story.

There are several key problems with the chart. The annual number of releases doubled over the same period—from 9,647 in 2020 to 19,997 in 2025—so raw counts don’t show whether the share of successful games actually improved. The graphic also ignores inflation (you’d need about $125,000 today to match $100,000 in 2020) and omits how Valve’s 30 percent cut turns $100,000 of revenue into $70,000 for a developer.

For a five-person indie team that could mean roughly $14,000 each before taxes, closer to $10,000 after tax, while a U.S. annual salary under $15,960 is considered below the poverty line by 2026 figures.

United States

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