How Much Money Does Steam Take from Developers? (2024)

FAQs

How Much Money Does Steam Take from Developers? ›

Steam's Revenue Share Model

Steam takes its 30% cut, although some developers may have negotiated a smaller cut, for example for exclusivity.

In order to get fully set up, you will need to pay a $100.00 fee for each product you wish to distribute on Steam (the "Steam Direct Fee"). You can pay this fee with any payment method supported by Steam in your region, except methods that use the Steam Wallet.

We will be required by the IRS to withhold 30% of your revenue share payment and remit these taxes to the IRS.

The terms for developers will remain the same between the US and the EU, with a 12% commission on all sales through the Epic Games Store and a 100% revenue share for the developer for the first six months.

The Epic store takes 12% whatever engine you use. They are simply waiving the 5% unreal engine royalty to unreal developers so they don't pay more than 12%.

Users may also sell certain items in their Steam Inventory, albeit not all items may be put on the market. Valve also charges a "Steam Fee", which is 5% of the user's set item sell value, and in some cases, a "game-specific fee", which is determined by the game developer and is applied along with the Steam fee.

The Steam Transaction Fee is collected by Steam and is used to protect against nominal fraud incidents and cover the cost of development of this and future Steam economy features. The fee is currently 5% (with a minimum fee of $0.01). This fee may be increased or decreased in the future.

Steam pays developers via a revenue share method.

It pays participating developers every month with payments sent out usually within 30 days of the end of the month in which the developer has generated revenue from video game sales. Payments to developers are made via: Wire transfer. PayPal.

As long as your game complies with the Steam Terms of Service, you will only need to create an account and pay a one-time fee of US$100 to publish your game on Steam. They will, however, give you the money back if your game makes $1,000 in gross revenue from sales on the Steam store.

How do I avoid Steam market tax? ›

The 15% charge is only on Market transactions, trades or in-game purchases do not have that charge. If you want to purchase items from other users and don't want the charges then you'll need to find some non-Steam market.

A. We pay out by the 30th of the month following sales. For example, we will pay you for calendar February month sales by March 30th. It may take a few business days for the payment to post to your bank account.

Steam's system mostly benefits players, but also Steam itself. Although obvious, it's important to note that Steam's return costs are minimal (as they are for any other retailer of digital goods). For each refund, Valve simply loses its 20-30% revenue share (which will depend on the game's sales).

Steam's Revenue Share Model

Steam takes a 30% cut from the revenue generated by game sales on its platform. This means that out of every dollar earned by developers on their games, Steam keeps 30 cents, while the remaining 70 cents goes directly to the developers' pockets.

This enables us to return 29%* directly to the developers. That leaves 26% to cover Roblox's ongoing services and operating costs, future-looking investments in the platform, and margins.

In summary, self-publishing can be the solution for those seeking independence and control in the game development industry. Although seeking funding through publishers may be tempting, self-publishing offers a viable alternative backed by specialized companies that guide game developers every step of the way.

Normally, Valve takes around 30 percent of all game sales on Steam, with some exceptions for games from smaller developers in its Steam Direct program. That will remain the case for the first $10 million in sales a game maker or publisher earns.

Commission. There is also a 30% commission on every sale made on Steam, which means you'll make 70% of every sale.

We will make your payments by Electronic Funds Transfer which is a bank-to-bank transfer (payments within the US are via ACH and outside the US are via USD SWIFT wire). We do not currently offer any other payment methods – please ensure that you are able to receive payments in this manner.