Sandbox games have emerged as one of Steam’s most successful genres, according to a new analysis of 98,555 paid titles. The report found that sandbox games had the highest share of titles reaching $100,000 in estimated revenue, outperforming first-person shooters, RPGs, and action RPGs.
The study, published by We Love It, estimated that 27.6% of sandbox games on Steam have earned at least $100,000. By comparison, 21.8% of FPS games reached that figure, followed by RPGs at 19.5% and ARPGs at 19%.
Palworld Ranks Among Steam’s Biggest Earners
Pocketpair’s Palworld was highlighted as one of the genre’s largest successes, with estimated lifetime Steam revenue of around $500 million since its 2024 Early Access launch. The report places the game among the very highest-performing paid titles on the platform.
Terraria and ARK also ranked among the biggest sandbox earners, with the analysis estimating lifetime revenue of roughly $540 million and $400 million, respectively. Their success demonstrates the long-term commercial strength of games built around open-ended gameplay, exploration, crafting and player freedom.
However, the report also shows how difficult it is for most games to achieve major success on Steam. Across the nearly 100,000 paid games analyzed, median lifetime earnings stood at just $3,631, meaning “half of all paid games earned less,” according to the report.
Sandbox games had a higher median estimated revenue of $7,973, while visual novels came surprisingly close at $7,012. Still, the gap between Steam’s biggest hits and the average release remains enormous.
FPS and RPG games remain commercially important despite sandbox titles producing the strongest overall results in the study.
| Platforms | Microsoft Windows |
|---|---|
| Developer | Pocketpair |
