The fatal mistake most indie devs make is treating all platforms like Steam.
Are these numbers realistic? Yes, but ONLY if you understand the algorithms.
The numbers in the tables below are highly conservative. The data arrays in this model represent the "Payout" (the money sent to your bank account) AFTER Steam has taken their 30% cut, and AFTER Roblox has taken their ~70% DevEx cut. Then, we subtract your Server Costs to find the True Net Profit.
This model is intentionally conservative. We only count the primary revenue stream for each platform. Several additional income sources are excluded, meaning the real numbers could be significantly higher.
| Revenue Stream | Steam | Web | Roblox | Quest |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 💰 Game Sales (one-time purchase) | ✅ $14.99 | — Free | — Free | ✅ $4.99 |
| 📺 Ad Revenue (interstitial + rewarded video) | — N/A | ✅ $3-$8 CPM | — N/A | — N/A |
| 🛒 Cosmetic Microtransactions (skins, trails, etc.) | ❌ Not modeled | ✅ $0.99-$4.99 | ✅ 50-800 R$ | ❌ Not modeled |
| ⏱️ Engagement-Based Payouts (Roblox EBP) | — N/A | — N/A | ✅ Modeled (~10-15% bonus) | — N/A |
| 📢 Immersive Ads (Roblox in-game ad placements) | — N/A | — N/A | ✅ Modeled (~5-10% bonus) | — N/A |
| 🔄 Subscriptions / VIP Pass (monthly recurring) | ❌ Not modeled | ✅ Modeled ($2.99-$6.99) | ✅ Modeled (200-800 R$) | ❌ Not modeled |
| 🎁 DLC / Expansion Packs | ❌ Not modeled | — N/A | — N/A | ❌ Not modeled |
| 🤝 Sponsorship Deals (portal featured placement) | — N/A | ❌ Not modeled | — N/A | — N/A |
Our model now directly incorporates Cosmetics, Web IAP, Roblox Engagement-Based Payouts (EBP), Immersive Ads, and VIP Subscriptions into baseline projections. Extra unmodeled upside includes:
⚠️ Bottom line: Projections include all standard platform income pillars. Actual earnings will easily exceed these figures with seasonal events and portal features.
| 🚫 Remove Ads Pass | $2.99 | → $2.09 |
| 🏎️ Premium Vehicle Pack | $1.99 | → $1.39 |
| ⭐ VIP Pass (no ads + skins) | $4.99 | → $3.49 |
| 🏎️ Vehicle Skin | 150 R$ (~$1.88) | → $0.53 |
| ✨ Neon Trail Effect | 400 R$ (~$5.00) | → $1.40 |
| ⭐ VIP Game Pass / Sub | 800 R$ (~$10.00) | → $2.80 |
| ⚡ Speed Boost (temp) | 75 R$ (~$0.94) | → $0.26 |
| 🎵 Custom Horn | 50 R$ (~$0.63) | → $0.18 |
| 🚫 Remove Ads Pass | $2.99 | → $2.09 |
| 🔮 Premium Marble Pack (5 skins) | $1.99 | → $1.39 |
| ✏️ Pro Level Editor Tools | $3.99 | → $2.79 |
| ⭐ VIP Creator Pass (all skins + tools) | $6.99 | → $4.89 |
| 🔮 Premium Marble Skin | 200 R$ (~$2.50) | → $0.70 |
| ✨ Particle Trail Effect | 350 R$ (~$4.38) | → $1.23 |
| ⭐ Level Editor VIP Pass | 600 R$ (~$7.50) | → $2.10 |
| ⏱️ EBP (Premium Playtime) | Auto-Payout | → +15% Boost |
| 📢 Immersive Portal Ads | Impressions | → +8% Boost |
| 🚫 Remove Ads | $1.99 | → $1.39 |
| 🐍 Creature Skin Pack | $0.99 | → $0.69 |
| ⚡ Starter Boost (2x size) | $0.99 | → $0.69 |
| 🐍 Creature Skin | 150 R$ (~$1.88) | → $0.53 |
| 🌈 Neon Glow Trail | 250 R$ (~$3.13) | → $0.88 |
| 👑 Kill Effect (crown pop) | 300 R$ (~$3.75) | → $1.05 |
| ⏱️ EBP (Premium Playtime) | Auto-Payout | → +10% Boost |
| 📢 Billboard / Portal Ads | Impressions | → +8% Boost |
| 🚫 Remove Ads | $2.99 | → $2.09 |
| 🎭 Character Skin Pack | $1.99 | → $1.39 |
| 🔫 Weapon Camo Bundle | $2.99 | → $2.09 |
| 🎭 Character Outfit | 400 R$ (~$5.00) | → $1.40 |
| 🔫 Weapon Skin (camo/neon) | 250 R$ (~$3.13) | → $0.88 |
| ⏱️ EBP (Long Match Sessions) | Auto-Payout | → +12% Boost |
| 📢 Immersive Ads (Lobby Billboards) | Impressions | → +6% Boost |
| 🚫 Remove Ads | $2.99 | → $2.09 |
| 🔫 Weapon Skin Bundle (3 skins) | $2.99 | → $2.09 |
| 💉 Revive Pack (5 extra lives) | $0.99 | → $0.69 |
| ⭐ VIP Co-op Pass (all skins + lives) | $5.99 | → $4.19 |
| 🔫 Weapon Skin (gold/neon) | 300 R$ (~$3.75) | → $1.05 |
| ⭐ VIP Pass (2x XP + loot) | 800 R$ (~$10.00) | → $2.80 |
| 💉 Revive Token (consumable) | 50 R$ (~$0.63) | → $0.18 |
| ⏱️ EBP (Highest Session Time) | Auto-Payout | → +15% Boost |
| 📢 Immersive Ads (Safezone Screens) | Impressions | → +7% Boost |
Running total of money banked per platform. Use the checkboxes to toggle time period and platforms. The Y-axis auto-adjusts to your selection.
Every single month, per platform. Year 1 = actual data. Year 2 & 3 = 2.5%/mo decay from Month 12 baseline.
Use the toggles below to see how shutting down unprofitable games saves you money. Or use the universal buttons to toggle ALL games on a platform at once.
| Game | Active Platforms (Click to Toggle) | Total Payout (Post-Cut) | Server Costs | True Net Profit |
|---|
Total cash banked after 12, 24, and 36 months — broken down by platform.
| Period | 🔵 Steam (Net) | 🟠 Web (Net) | 🔴 Roblox (Net) | 🟣 Quest (Net) | 💰 COMBINED NET |
|---|
| 🔵 Steam | Player pays $14.99 | -30% cut | = $10.49 payout ✅ |
| 🟠 Web Ads | $3-$8 CPM | -50% ad network | = $1.50-$4 per 1K views ✅ |
| 🟠 Web IAP | Player pays $0.99-$6.99 | -30% portal fee | = ~70% kept ✅ |
| 🔴 Roblox | Cosmetics + EBP + Immersive Ads + Subs | -70% DevEx cut | = $0.0035/Robux + EBP & Ad payouts ✅ |
| 🟣 Meta Quest | Player pays $4.99 | -30% Meta cut | = $3.49 payout ✅ |
Building a game for Web (HTML5/JS), Roblox (Lua), or Steam (C#/C++) requires completely different technologies. Therefore, every platform port is treated as its own separate project. Here is the recommended chronological order based on your current progress.
Finish What You Started. You are only 2 weeks away from finishing it. Ship it, learn from it, but don't spend money on marketing. Be prepared to shut down the servers if it bleeds money.
Already Built. Since it's done, do the final polish and release it to the Meta Quest store to start generating passive revenue.
Fastest Cash Flow. (2-4 weeks dev time). The .io niche is massive on web portals. Build this next to secure quick algorithmic traction and fund larger projects.
Highest ROI. (2-3 months). Blue ocean on Coolmath/Poki. User-generated content from the level editor means infinite replayability.
Proven Port. Once the Web version succeeds, rebuild the physics engine in Roblox Lua to capture a completely different audience.
Proven Port. Porting the web .io game into Roblox. The mechanics are simple enough that this should be a fast rebuild in Lua.
Stop the Bleeding. Port your Steam racing game to Web (HTML5) to eliminate the $200/mo server costs and start generating ad revenue.
Roblox Racing. Rebuilding the racing mechanics in Roblox. High potential if the visuals are Top 1%.
High Revenue Ceiling. (6-9 months). Once the first 8 projects provide stable cash flow, build this massive Left4Dead clone for Roblox.
Hard Web Port. Porting a 3D multiplayer survival game to browser HTML5 is technically very difficult. Do this last.
Do Not Build. Massive dev time (6-12 months) and "Death Trap" competition against multi-million dollar studios. Wait until you have a huge budget.
Your biggest strategic advantage is that you can deploy to massive organic platforms with almost zero server costs.
When we calculate "Web" revenue, we are combining the projected algorithmic traffic of 2 to 3 major portals at the same time (e.g. CrazyGames + Poki, or Poki + Coolmath). Because the game runs in a browser via HTML5, you can instantly export and upload the exact same build to multiple portals simultaneously, multiplying your organic reach while your server costs stay locked at $5-10/month. If you hit all 5 major portals, these projections are extremely conservative.
Roblox takes a massive ~70% cut of revenue, but in exchange, they pay for the servers, the databases, the networking, and the DDoS protection. You could have 100,000 players in your Battle Royale, and your server bill will still be $0. This completely eliminates the financial risk of building large multiplayer games.
HyperCycle League on Steam costs $200/month for servers. As you can see in the data, once the game stops selling organically after Month 2, those server costs don't stop. You immediately start losing money every single month just to keep the game alive. You must either shut down the Steam servers or push an update to get sales.
Simulate what happens if you spend money on paid ads (TikTok, Meta, Roblox Ads, Portal Boosts) or calculate the exact sales/players needed to break even on server & marketing costs.
Select a platform and budget above to run live marketing & break-even calculations.