Steam net revenue calculator: from gross sales to net to studio

Enter a period's gross Steam revenue to see what reaches the studio. The calculator removes refunds and VAT, takes Valve's share of the remaining net revenue (30.00%, falling to 25.00% beyond $10,000,000 and 20.00% beyond $50,000,000 per game), then US withholding on the US portion.

Last reviewed · SteamStats team

0.00% for US studios, the treaty rate with a W-8BEN, 30.00% without one

Sets the revenue share tier

Net to studio

$22,696.80, 56.74% of gross

Valve's share this period: $10,080.00, 30.00% of net revenue.

From gross to net to studio
StepAmountShare of gross
Gross revenue$40,000.00100.00%
Refunds and chargebacks−$3,000.00−7.50%
VAT and sales tax−$3,400.00−8.50%
Net revenue$33,600.0084.00%
Valve's share−$10,080.00−25.20%
Developer share$23,520.0058.80%
US withholding−$823.20−2.06%
Net to studio$22,696.8056.74%

Worked example: one month of Pebblewick

The calculator opens with illustrative inputs for Pebblewick, the fictional demo game by Hollow Fern Games: $40,000.00 of gross sales, refunds of 7.50% and VAT and sales tax of 8.50% of gross, 35.00% of net revenue from US buyers and a treaty withholding rate of 10.00%. Net revenue is $33,600.00, Valve's share $10,080.00, US withholding $823.20, and $22,696.80 reaches the studio: 56.74% of gross.

Method and formula

  1. Refunds = gross × refund share; VAT and sales tax = gross × tax share.
  2. Net revenue = gross − refunds − VAT and sales tax. This is the figure Valve's monthly report applies the revenue share to.
  3. Valve's share = 30.00% of the game's net revenue up to $10,000,000, 25.00% from there to $50,000,000 and 20.00% beyond, counted from the game's earlier revenue since 1 October 2018. A period that crosses a line is split at it.
  4. Developer share = net revenue − Valve's share.
  5. US withholding = developer share × share of net revenue from US buyers × withholding rate, at most 30.00%.
  6. Net to studio = developer share − US withholding. Each step is rounded to the cent.

Assumptions and sources

What each input stands for and where the rule comes from
Input or ruleValue usedSource
Revenue share applies to net, not grossGross less refunds, chargebacks and taxesSteamworks: Payments and sales reporting FAQ, checked 1 November 2026
Valve's share and tiers30.00%, 25.00% beyond $10,000,000, 20.00% beyond $50,000,000, revenue since 1 October 2018Steamworks Development: New revenue share tiers (30 November 2018), checked 1 November 2026
US withholding0.00% to 30.00%; 30.00% without a tax treaty, the treaty rate with a W-8BEN formSteamworks: Tax FAQ, checked 1 November 2026
VAT and sales taxVAT is included in Steam prices where Valve collects it; US and Canadian sales tax is added on topSteamworks: Tax FAQ, checked 1 November 2026
RefundsWithin two weeks of purchase and under two hours of playtimeSteam Refunds, checked 1 November 2026
Default refund and tax shares7.50% and 8.50%, inside the ranges one publisher's portfolio showed in 2020GameDiscoverCo: Game refunds and the hidden costs of getting to net on Steam (17 August 2020), checked 1 November 2026

Limits

  • Refund and tax shares are inputs, not predictions. Tax depends on where buyers live, so a game sold mostly in the EU loses more to VAT than one sold mostly in the United States.
  • Valve's announcement counts revenue from game packages, DLC, in-game sales and Community Market fees. The calculator applies the tiers to the net revenue entered, which suits one game; a studio with several games works each one out on its own.
  • Chargebacks sit inside the refund share. Currency conversion, bank fees and income tax in the studio's own country are outside the calculation.
  • The Steam Direct fee of $100.00 is paid back in a later payment once the game passes $1,000.00 of adjusted gross revenue; it is not part of this calculation.
  • The result is an estimate of one period. The monthly report in Steamworks is the amount Valve pays.

With your own Steamworks data

SteamStats draws the same chain from the studio's own Steamworks sales instead of typed-in shares: gross, refunds, VAT, Steam's share, US tax and net to studio, per day, per month and per payout. The Steam share and treaty withholding rate come from Settings. Sales refresh every 4 h on Indie and every 60 min on Studio and Publisher, as part of Indie, Studio, and Publisher.

Sources