Sandbox gameplay
Every paid Steam game tagged Sandbox, ranked by our estimated lifetime revenue. 10,246 games in the catalog, 5,292 with a sales estimate.
Games
10,246
Active paid titles tagged
Total Gross
$29.0B
Sum of estimated lifetime revenue
Median
$16.2K
Half earn less, half more
Hit Rate
35.8%
1,892 games earned $100K+
Revenue share - top 5 vs rest
- Grand Theft Auto V Legacy 6.0%
- Hearts of Iron IV 4.3%
- The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt - Complete Edition 4.3%
- Red Dead Redemption 2 3.0%
- BeamNG.drive 2.8%
- Other (5287 games) 79.5%
Top 25 earners
The highest-earning Sandbox games by our estimator.
| # | Game | Released | Reviews | Peak CCU | Est. Units | Est. Gross |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Grand Theft Auto V Legacy Rockstar North | 2015-04-13 | 2,078,305 | 360,761 | 29,096,270 | $1,745,485,237 |
| 2 |  Hearts of Iron IV Paradox Development Studio | 2016-06-06 | 376,916 | 93,196 | 24,876,456 | $1,243,574,035 |
| 3 |  The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt - Complete Edition CD PROJEKT RED | 2015-05-18 | 888,176 | 103,329 | 24,827,549 | $1,241,129,175 |
| 4 |  Red Dead Redemption 2 Rockstar Games | 2019-12-05 | 919,683 | 99,759 | 14,714,928 | $882,748,531 |
| 5 |  BeamNG.drive BeamNG | 2015-05-29 | 418,878 | 47,248 | 32,730,932 | $817,945,991 |
| 6 |  Rust Facepunch Studios | 2018-02-08 | 1,399,102 | 259,646 | 19,587,428 | $783,301,246 |
| 7 |  DayZ Bohemia Interactive | 2018-12-13 | 469,587 | 78,739 | 13,262,111 | $662,972,929 |
| 8 |  7 Days to Die The Fun Pimps | 2024-07-25 | 400,969 | 124,449 | 12,831,008 | $577,267,050 |
| 9 |  Battlefield™ 6 Battlefield Studios | 2025-10-10 | 368,537 | 741,263 | 8,171,182 | $571,819,316 |
| 10 |  Valheim Iron Gate AB | 2026-09-09 | 550,081 | 498,478 | 15,842,333 | $475,111,567 |
| 11 |  Stellaris Paradox Development Studio | 2016-05-09 | 197,238 | 68,517 | 9,421,418 | $470,976,686 |
| 12 |  Europa Universalis IV Paradox Development Studio, Paradox Tinto | 2013-08-13 | 137,413 | 47,844 | 9,314,085 | $465,611,109 |
| 13 |  New World: Aeternum Amazon Game Studios | 2021-09-28 | 297,247 | 913,027 | 7,304,216 | $438,179,918 |
| 14 |  Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord TaleWorlds Entertainment | 2022-10-25 | 297,708 | 248,034 | 8,443,284 | $422,079,767 |
| 15 |  Stardew Valley ConcernedApe | 2016-02-26 | 1,039,050 | 236,614 | 27,840,574 | $417,330,204 |
| 16 |  Palworld Pocketpair | 2026-07-09 | 488,579 | 2,101,535 | 11,725,896 | $351,659,621 |
| 17 |  Project Zomboid The Indie Stone | 2013-11-08 | 482,120 | 124,972 | 13,885,056 | $346,987,549 |
| 18 |  V Rising Stunlock Studios | 2024-05-08 | 137,196 | 150,645 | 9,791,925 | $342,619,456 |
| 19 |  Satisfactory Coffee Stain Studios | 2024-09-10 | 279,560 | 185,957 | 8,371,850 | $334,790,282 |
| 20 |  Sons Of The Forest Endnight Games Ltd | 2024-02-22 | 320,323 | 198,477 | 10,250,336 | $307,407,577 |
| 21 |  Manor Lords Slavic Magic | 2024-04-26 | 91,731 | 170,000 | 7,650,000 | $305,882,308 |
| 22 |  ARK: Survival Ascended Studio Wildcard, Grove Street Games, Instinct Games | 2023-10-25 | 117,796 | 98,047 | 6,373,055 | $286,723,744 |
| 23 |  Terraria Re-Logic | 2011-05-16 | 1,555,891 | 486,918 | 28,006,038 | $279,780,320 |
| 24 |  No Man's Sky Hello Games | 2016-08-12 | 418,992 | 212,321 | 4,608,912 | $276,419,497 |
| 25 |  Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon® Wildlands Ubisoft Paris, Ubisoft Annecy, Ubisoft Bucharest, Ubisoft Montpellier, Ubisoft Milan, Reflections, Ubisoft Belgrade | 2017-03-06 | 114,915 | 45,663 | 5,362,700 | $268,081,373 |
Releases per year
Is Sandbox trending up or fading? Bars show new paid Steam releases with this tag each year. Green flecks are hits (≥$100K est. lifetime).
19
2010
28
2011
20
2012
38
2013
86
2014
135
2015
307
2016
152
2017
208
2018
248
2019
294
2020
429
2021
435
2022
565
2023
731
2024
1,062
2025
1,266
2026
Top upcoming
Highest-wishlist unreleased Sandbox games.
| # | Game | WL Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Light No Fire Hello Games | 2 |
| 2 |  Kingmakers Redemption Road | 8 |
| 3 |  Witchbrook Chucklefish, Robotality | 10 |
| 4 |  ARK 2 Studio Wildcard, Grove Street Games | 12 |
| 5 |  Nivalis Nights ION LANDS | 24 |
| 6 |  Chronicles: Medieval Raw Power Games | 31 |
| 7 |  Railborn Washbear Studio | 33 |
| 8 |  Graveyard Keeper 2 Lazy Bear Games | 34 |
| 9 |  Falling Frontier Stutter Fox Studios | 37 |
| 10 |  Ardem Techtive Games | 41 |
Top recent (12 months)
Highest-earning Sandbox games released in the past year.
| # | Game | Est. Gross |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | | $571,819,316 |
| 2 | | $475,111,567 |
| 3 | | $351,659,621 |
| 4 |  | $208,289,997 |
| 5 |  | $151,175,600 |
| 6 |  | $134,415,034 |
| 7 |  | $73,725,317 |
| 8 |  | $73,443,621 |
| 9 |  | $67,035,637 |
| 10 |  | $38,231,027 |