Valve Boasts of Steam Profitability, Developers Cry Foul

Game developers criticize Valve's misleading presentation on Steam game earnings

Mar. 16, 2026 at 6:55pm by Ben Kaplan

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During a presentation at the Game Developers Conference, Valve boasted that more games than ever are earning over $100,000 per year on Steam. However, game developers have pushed back, arguing that Valve's data is misleading and that the actual situation for most developers is much bleaker. Critics point out that the number of profitable games has only kept pace with the exponential growth in the total number of games released on Steam, and that $100,000 in revenue is a paltry amount for most studios.

Why it matters

Valve's dominance of the PC gaming market gives it significant power and influence, and how it presents data about the health of its platform affects public perception and developer sentiment. Developers feel Valve is being disingenuous by boasting about profitability while ignoring the challenges most face in actually making a living on Steam.

The details

Valve's presentation showed that the number of games earning over $100,000 per year on Steam doubled from 3,000 in 2020 to 6,000 in 2025. However, the total number of games released on Steam also doubled in that time, from 9,647 to 19,997. This means the percentage of profitable games has remained flat. Additionally, $100,000 in revenue translates to only around $50,000 in profit for developers after Valve's 30% cut and taxes, which many say is not enough to sustain a game studio. Indie developer Mike Rose pointed out that a $50,000 annual salary for a 5-person team would put them below the poverty line.

  • In 2020, 3,000 games earned over $100,000 on Steam.
  • By 2025, the number of games earning over $100,000 had reached 6,000.
  • In 2020, 9,647 games were released on Steam.
  • By 2025, the number of games released on Steam had reached 19,997.

The players

Valve

The company that owns and operates the Steam digital distribution platform for PC games.

Mike Rose

The boss of indie game publisher No More Robots.

Tom Sennett

An indie game developer, creator of the RunMan game.

Simon Carless

A games industry analyst and the publisher of the Game Discover Co newsletter.

Paul Kilduff-Taylor

The developer of the Frozen Synapse game.

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What they’re saying

“This was presented as a good thing – "more games are finding success!" — when actually the data has just been presented in a tricksy way to make it look like everything is fine”

— Mike Rose, Boss of indie publisher No More Robots

“$100k is peanuts, and what this really says is like 100,000 games on Steam basically made no money at all last year. And of course a small handful of games at the top made 100x what the others did”

— Tom Sennett, Indie game developer

“Making games has never been a good idea. It's a wildly unpredictable soul-sapping business that turns on the whims of a highly capricious market.”

— Paul Kilduff-Taylor, Developer of Frozen Synapse

What’s next

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The takeaway

This case highlights growing concerns in the community about repeat offenders released on bail, raising questions about bail reform, public safety on SF streets, and if any special laws to govern autonomous vehicles in residential and commercial areas.