How paid games pay
Pay once, own it all
Hyper Shards uses the premium model: a player pays once and gets the whole game, with no ads and no extra shopping. That is a simple promise to players.
But between the player clicking "Buy" and the money landing in our bank account, a lot happens. Let's follow one sale.
How a sale flows
- 1. The player paysOn a store like Steam, or on our own website.
- 2. A share is keptStores keep 15% to 30% at the time of writing (the store fees are explained in the Google Play and App Store lesson in Stage 7). On our website, a payment provider keeps a much smaller fee.
- 3. Our balance growsThe rest is added to the studio's balance with that store or provider.
- 4. PayoutOn a schedule, the balance is paid into our business bank account. Stores usually pay monthly, a few weeks after the month ends.
- 5. RefundsIf a player gets their money back, it comes out of our earnings. Each store sets its own refund rules, and on our website we set ours (more in the Refunds, disputes and fraud lesson).
Revenue share
1Hyper Shards on Steam (example)2Price paid by player $4.993Steam revenue share 30%4Studio receives ???
About how much reaches the studio from one sale?
- $4.99
- About $3.49
- About $1.50
- $4.69
Show the answer
About $3.49
30% of $4.99 is about $1.50, which Steam keeps. $4.99 minus $1.50 leaves about $3.49 for the studio, before tax.
Example maths: breaking even
Breaking even means earning back everything we spent. After that, each sale is profit.
Example only: Steam Direct costs US$100 per game, paid back once the game makes US$1,000 (the Steam lesson in Stage 7 has the details). Add tools, art and a domain, and say our costs are $349. If each sale brings us about $3.49, how many sales do we need to cover the costs?
Break-even
1Costs to cover $349.002We receive per sale $3.493Sales to break even ???
How many sales does Hyper Shards need to break even in this example?
- 35
- 100
- 349
- 1,000
Show the answer
100
$349 divided by $3.49 is 100. After the 100th sale, every new sale is profit (before tax).
Sales come in waves
A paid game does not sell the same amount every week. For many paid games, launch week and the first month bring a big spike, then sales settle into a smaller, steady long tail.
Studios plan new waves on purpose: a discount during a big store sale, a free update with a new ship, a festival or a creator video. Each one brings a smaller spike, and the tail keeps paying for months or years.
So a premium studio counts on launch, but plans its cash for the quiet months in between.
True story: Stardew Valley
Eric Barone, who works as ConcernedApe, spent four years making Stardew Valley, a farming game, by himself. He taught himself to make its music, art, programming and design.
It came out on PC in February 2016 as a paid game, and passed 1 million copies sold within two months. Then it kept selling: on Xbox One and PlayStation 4 that December, Nintendo Switch in 2017, and iPhone in 2018. By December 2024, it had sold over 41 million copies.
Launch was only the first spike. The long tail has lasted years.
Source: Stardew Valley press kit, stardewvalley.net
Quick check
For most paid games, sales stay at launch-week level for as long as the game is on sale.
- True
- False
Show the answer
False
Launch usually brings the biggest spike, then sales settle into a smaller long tail. Discounts, updates and festivals create new, smaller spikes along the way.
Why trailers, demos and wishlists sell
- TrailersPlayers can't try before paying, so a short trailer of real gameplay shows what they get.
- DemosA free World 1 lets players feel the controls. If they love it, they buy the rest.
- WishlistsOn Steam, a wishlist means "tell me when it launches or goes on sale". The Steam lesson in Stage 7 shows why they matter so much.
A paid game earns nothing until someone decides to buy it, so showing the fun early is part of the business.
Quick check
Why does a free World 1 demo help Hyper Shards sell?
- Players feel the controls and the fun for themselves, and the ones who love it buy the rest
- Demos are paid for by the store, so every download earns money
- A demo means we never need a trailer or screenshots
Show the answer
Players feel the controls and the fun for themselves, and the ones who love it buy the rest
A paid game asks players to trust us before they play. A demo removes that guess, so the players who love World 1 have a clear reason to buy. Trailers and screenshots still matter for everyone who hasn't tried it.
Next: the opposite of pay once
Hyper Shards' main home is our own website, as a PWA. There is no store there to take the player's card and pay us. Later in this stage, we will see how Stripe, a payment provider, does that job.
First, the opposite model. Garden Defense charges nothing up front. How can a free game earn?
Bolt says: Next lesson: how freemium pays.
Fact-checked 11 October 2026
- Steamworks: Steam Direct fee partner.steamgames.com
- Apple Developer: App Store Small Business Program developer.apple.com
- Android Developers Blog: Expanded billing choice and lower fees on Google Play (June 2026) android-developers.googleblog.com
- Stripe Docs: Refund and cancel payments docs.stripe.com
- Stardew Valley press kit stardewvalley.net