Sony decision to release PlayStation games on Steam seems to be paying off. According to one analytics firm, the company has made over $1.2 billion since it began putting first-party games on the platform.
In its latest report, Alinea Analytics goes into detail on the success of PlayStation Studios’ titles. They mention that the number comes after Valve’s cut of sales is taken into account.
The firm says that, according to their estimates, over $1.5 billion in revenue has been generated in total. Of that total, Sony received $1.2 billion while Valve has come away with at least $350 million. For Valve’s portion of the cuts, they take 30% of sales initially. Once a game reaches $10 million in sales, that drops to 25%. After $50 million it falls a bit further to 20%.
Still, even with the profits that are going to Valve, Sony has to be pleased with what PlayStation games are generating on the platform.
Five Games Lead The Way For PlayStation On Steam
Going into their estimates,—again, it’s important to note that many of these numbers haven’t been fully confirmed by Sony—Alinea reports that Helldivers 2 is the most successful first-party game on Steam. Since its release in February 2024, the game has sold 12.7 million copies. In a distant second is Horizon Zero Dawn, which sold 4.5 million copies. That’s then followed by God of War at 4.2 million, Days Gone at 3.4 million, and Spider-Man Remastered with 2.7 million copies sold.
Despite the success of these games, Alinea cautions that the “novelty” of PlayStation games on Steam is wearing off a bit.
“The audience that was once excited to experience these games for the first time has largely been served,” Alinea’s head of market analysis Rhys Elliot said. “Later releases naturally face smaller potential audiences, and our estimates clearly show this.”
Looking at their data, Alinea notes that sales were stronger when PlayStation first started releasing its titles on Steam. One example they used is God of War. When it released, the game sold 2.5 million copies in 427 days. That ended up being 2.5x more than the sequel, God of War Ragnarök, sold in the same timeframe.
Another game used was Spider-Man and Spider-Man 2. Over the first 294 days on the platform, Spider-Man sold twice as many copies as its sequel.
Whether this is a worrying trend or just a case of players not wanting to play the latest games right now remains to be seen. There have been rumors of Sony changing its strategy when it comes to whether or not it keeps releasing PlayStation games on Steam. With the reported generated revenue thus far, however, it feels like Sony could be leaving a lot of money on the table if they were to pull back.
What do you think of the success PlayStation games are having on Steam? Leave your thoughts down in the comments below and join the official Insider Gaming Discord server.
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Mike has been covering the gaming industry since 2012, and has reported on some of the largest events in the industry while also working as an investigative reporter. Outside of…
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