Ömer Develioğlu, co-founder of the studio Northend Games, has published a detailed account of revenue from two of his games on Steam. Over five years the studio took in $560,000 in gross revenue, but after all deductions each of the two founders was left with $73,000 — about $15,000 a year.
The studio sold 135,000 copies of two games: Northend Tower Defense and Deepstone Rift. More than half of the sales, 53.3%, came from China. According to Develioğlu, the same market was also the main source of losses: the refund rate reached 22%, while across the industry it typically stays at 10–15%. Refunds cost the studio $134,000.
The next deduction was Steam's platform commission of the standard 30%, or $127,000. A further 5% was withheld as US withholding tax. Develioğlu, who lives in Thailand, paid this tax despite the double taxation treaty between the two countries.
The largest expense after Steam's commission was the share taken by an Asian publisher, which handled promotion of the games in China, Japan and South Korea. Its services cost $115,000. Finally, Thailand's Revenue Department collected 15% of the remaining profit. In the end, of the $560,000 in gross revenue, $146,000 remained in the studio's accounts.
The founders split this sum in half. An annual income of $15,000 is nearly three times the average salary in Thailand, which allows Develioğlu not to complain about poverty and to make game development his main job. He summed up his calculations by noting that, instead of a Lamborghini, he still drives a 2012 Mazda.
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