Steam Revenue Sharing: What Developers Keep

Steam’s revenue share determines how much of each sale a developer keeps versus what Valve takes as a platform fee. The standard split is 70% to the developer and 30% to Valve, but that rate changes to 75%/25% once a game passes $10 million in lifetime revenue, and to 80%/20% past $50 million. This article explains the tiers, how they work, and what they mean for developers at every stage.

Formula

The developer’s share is simply the lifetime revenue multiplied by the applicable percentage. For revenue below $10 million, that percentage is 70%. Between $10 million and $50 million, it is 75%. Above $50 million, it is 80%.

In symbols: Developer Share = Revenue × Rate, where Rate is 0.70, 0.75, or 0.80 depending on the total. Valve’s portion is Revenue − Developer Share.

Worked Example

Using the default of $10,000,000 in lifetime revenue, the game has crossed the first threshold, so the rate is 75%.

• Developer share = $10,000,000 × 0.75 = $7,500,000
• Valve share = $10,000,000 − $7,500,000 = $2,500,000

The calculator above shows exactly that: $7,500,000 to the developer and $2,500,000 to Valve.

How the Tiers Work

Valve introduced the tiered revenue share in 2018, replacing the flat 70/30 split that had been in place since Steam’s early days. The tiers are based on lifetime gross revenue for each game, not per-year or per-month figures. Once a game’s total earnings cross $10 million, the higher rate applies to all future revenue — not just the amount above the threshold. The same applies at $50 million.

Key details:

• The thresholds apply per game, not per developer or publisher account.
• Revenue is measured in US dollars before refunds and taxes.
• DLC, microtransactions, and in-game purchases all count toward the same lifetime total.
• Once a game reaches a higher tier, it stays there permanently — revenue never drops back down.

What Counts as Revenue

All money Steam collects from a game’s sales — base game, DLC, in-game purchases, and even Steam Wallet purchases — counts toward the lifetime total. Refunds reduce the total, so a refunded copy effectively never happened. Chargebacks and fraud also reduce the figure. However, revenue from Steam Keys sold outside Steam (for example, on Humble Bundle or Fanatical) does not count toward the threshold, because Valve does not take a cut of those sales.

Why Valve Did This

Before 2018, every game on Steam paid the same 30% fee regardless of size. Large studios with huge hits effectively subsidized the long tail of smaller games. The tiered system was Valve’s response to criticism that 30% was too high for big-budget titles, and it was also a strategic move to keep major publishers from leaving Steam for Epic Games Store (which takes only 12%) or launching their own launchers. By offering a better rate to top earners, Valve made staying on Steam more attractive for the games that generate the most revenue.

How It Compares to Other Stores

Steam’s 70/30 base rate is industry standard, but the tiers make it more competitive for successful games:

• Epic Games Store: 88/12 flat, but only for games that use Epic’s own payment processor.
• Itch.io: Developer chooses the cut, default is 90/10, and it can be set to 100% to the developer.
• GOG: 70/30 flat, with no tier system.
• Microsoft Store: 70/30 for games, but 88/12 for PC games that use Microsoft’s cross-platform tools.
• Nintendo eShop / PlayStation Store: 70/30 flat.

Steam’s advantage is not the rate itself but the massive audience and services (workshop, cloud saves, achievements, matchmaking) that come with it. For most developers, the extra 10–18% they could keep elsewhere rarely offsets the loss of Steam’s reach.

Common Misconceptions

A frequent misunderstanding is that the 75% tier applies only to revenue above $10 million. It does not — the entire revenue from that point forward gets the higher rate. Another myth is that the threshold is per year; it is lifetime. A game that earns $9 million in year one and $2 million in year two will cross $10 million in year two and then get 75% on all future sales, but the first $10 million was already taxed at 70%.

Developers also sometimes confuse gross revenue with net revenue. The thresholds are based on gross sales before refunds and before Valve’s cut. If a game sells $11 million worth of copies, the threshold is crossed even if refunds later bring the net down.

Practical Advice for Developers

For a small indie developer, the tier system rarely matters — most games never approach $10 million. What matters more is the 30% fee itself, which is already factored into pricing. For a studio that expects a hit, the tiers are a nice bonus but should not change your launch strategy. You cannot plan around crossing $10 million; you can only react when it happens.

One practical point: since Steam Keys sold elsewhere do not count toward the threshold, some developers choose to sell more keys on third-party stores to push a game closer to the next tier. However, those stores often take their own cut, so the net benefit is small unless the third-party store has a lower fee than Steam’s 30%.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does the 75% tier apply retroactively to the first $10 million?

No. The higher rate only applies to revenue earned after the threshold is crossed. The first $10 million is always at 70%, and the next $40 million at 75%, and so on.

Do DLC sales count toward the same threshold as the base game?

Yes. DLC, expansions, and in-game purchases all count toward the same lifetime revenue total for that game. There is no separate threshold for DLC.

What if a game is free-to-play with microtransactions?

The same rules apply. All revenue from in-game purchases counts toward the lifetime total. A free-to-play game that earns $10 million from microtransactions gets the 75% rate on future revenue.

Does the tier apply per publisher or per game?

Per game. Each product has its own lifetime revenue counter. A publisher with five games cannot combine their revenue to reach a higher tier.

Are refunds subtracted from the lifetime revenue?

Yes. Refunds reduce the gross revenue figure. If a game hits $10 million and then gets $500,000 in refunds, the net is $9.5 million, and the 75% tier does not activate until the net crosses $10 million again.

Is the 30% fee negotiable?

No. Valve does not negotiate individual rates. The tier system is the only way to pay less than 30%, and it is automatic — there is no application process.

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in revenue | Lifetime revenue | USD | 10000000 | 0
out share | Developer keeps | USD | revenue * 0.75 | 0
out valve | Valve takes | USD | revenue * 0.25 | 0
out pct | Developer keeps | % | 75 | 0