Space Sim gameplay
Every paid Steam game tagged Space Sim, ranked by our estimated lifetime revenue. 1,720 games in the catalog, 908 with a sales estimate.
Games
1,720
Active paid titles tagged
Total Gross
$1.3B
Sum of estimated lifetime revenue
Median
$2.2K
Half earn less, half more
Hit Rate
19.4%
176 games earned $100K+
Revenue share - top 5 vs rest
- No Man's Sky 20.6%
- Starfield 18.4%
- Kerbal Space Program 7.9%
- Space Engineers 6.1%
- Oxygen Not Included 4.8%
- Other (903 games) 42.3%
Top 25 earners
The highest-earning Space Sim games by our estimator.
| # | Game | Released | Reviews | Peak CCU | Est. Units | Est. Gross |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  No Man's Sky Hello Games | 2016-08-12 | 418,992 | 212,321 | 4,608,912 | $276,419,497 |
| 2 |  Starfield Bethesda Game Studios | 2023-09-05 | 175,400 | 330,597 | 4,958,955 | $247,898,160 |
| 3 |  Kerbal Space Program Squad | 2015-04-27 | 146,937 | 23,452 | 2,644,866 | $105,768,191 |
| 4 |  Space Engineers Keen Software House | 2019-02-28 | 134,427 | 23,867 | 4,091,257 | $81,784,227 |
| 5 |  Oxygen Not Included Klei Entertainment | 2019-07-30 | 143,868 | 27,380 | 2,589,624 | $64,714,704 |
| 6 |  Dyson Sphere Program Youthcat Studio | 2021-01-20 | 91,731 | 59,339 | 2,817,976 | $56,331,340 |
| 7 |  Empyrion - Galactic Survival Eleon Game Studios | 2020-08-05 | 34,429 | 8,778 | 2,272,314 | $45,423,557 |
| 8 |  X4: Foundations Egosoft | 2018-11-30 | 30,219 | 15,074 | 739,861 | $36,985,651 |
| 9 |  Elite Dangerous Frontier Developments | 2015-04-02 | 107,683 | 27,568 | 1,791,920 | $35,820,481 |
| 10 |  STAR WARSâ„¢: Squadrons MOTIVE | 2020-10-01 | 28,182 | 35,721 | 768,147 | $30,718,199 |
| 11 |  FTL: Faster Than Light Subset Games | 2012-09-14 | 78,774 | 18,821 | 2,947,446 | $29,444,986 |
| 12 |  Surviving Mars Haemimont Games, Abstraction | 2018-03-15 | 28,899 | 23,722 | 948,922 | $28,458,171 |
| 13 |  Hardspace: Shipbreaker Blackbird Interactive | 2022-05-24 | 22,408 | 7,718 | 651,100 | $22,766,797 |
| 14 |  Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion Ironclad Games Corporation, Stardock Entertainment | 2012-06-12 | 16,348 | 91,159 | 909,425 | $18,158,186 |
| 15 |  Kerbal Space Program 2 Intercept Games | 2023-02-24 | 32,003 | 6,854 | 254,500 | $12,722,455 |
| 16 |  Universe Sandbox Giant Army | 2015-08-24 | 32,252 | 776 | 388,000 | $11,636,120 |
| 17 |  PULSAR: Lost Colony Leafy Games | 2021-06-22 | 5,734 | 1,122 | 550,464 | $11,003,775 |
| 18 |  Void Crew Hutlihut Games | 2024-11-25 | 8,465 | 5,689 | 439,944 | $10,989,801 |
| 19 |  Avorion Boxelware | 2020-03-09 | 14,578 | 4,517 | 387,071 | $9,672,904 |
| 20 |  SpaceEngine Cosmographic Software | 2019-06-11 | 16,606 | 596 | 298,000 | $8,937,020 |
| 21 |  Deliver Us The Moon KeokeN Interactive | 2019-10-10 | 9,557 | 310 | 305,824 | $7,642,542 |
| 22 |  Cosmoteer: Starship Architect & Commander Walternate Realities | 2022-10-24 | 12,884 | 13,757 | 371,059 | $7,415,879 |
| 23 |  Wildgate Moonshot Games | 2025-07-22 | 5,651 | 3,697 | 240,305 | $7,206,747 |
| 24 |  Space Engineers 2 Keen Software House | 2025-01-27 | 5,586 | 4,492 | 214,502 | $6,432,915 |
| 25 |  Space Haven Bugbyte Ltd. | 2026-05-13 | 11,135 | 6,142 | 244,970 | $6,121,800 |
Releases per year
Is Space Sim trending up or fading? Bars show new paid Steam releases with this tag each year. Green flecks are hits (≥$100K est. lifetime).
3
2010
3
2011
7
2012
5
2013
16
2014
33
2015
27
2016
31
2017
40
2018
46
2019
70
2020
97
2021
101
2022
100
2023
113
2024
172
2025
186
2026
Top upcoming
Highest-wishlist unreleased Space Sim games.
| # | Game | WL Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |  beta decay Rotoscope Studios | 98 |
| 2 |  Blind Descent Pokuch | 167 |
| 3 |  C-Beams Distant Light Games | 283 |
| 4 |  Capital Command Hellride Games | 290 |
| 5 |  Main Sequence Tumbling Dumpling Studio | 337 |
| 6 |  Beyond Astra Nebule Games | 501 |
| 7 |  DREADNOUGHT TARTARUS benkimchi | 565 |
| 8 |  Spaceflight Simulator 2 Team Curiosity ✦ | 576 |
| 9 |  Starpath Jonathan Smårs | 596 |
| 10 |  Verse Project Synthes Games | 606 |
Top recent (12 months)
Highest-earning Space Sim games released in the past year.
| # | Game | Est. Gross |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | | $6,121,800 |
| 2 |  | $5,246,178 |
| 3 |  | $2,640,298 |
| 4 |  | $2,085,996 |
| 5 |  | $2,035,121 |
| 6 |  | $1,981,169 |
| 7 |  | $1,979,340 |
| 8 |  | $1,892,548 |
| 9 |  | $1,633,910 |
| 10 |  | $1,497,251 |