Northend Games Co-Founder Details How $560K Steam Revenue Became $15K a Year

Omer Develioğlu, co-founder of Northend Games, publicly shared a breakdown of his studio's Steam revenue, showing how $560,000 in gross sales from two games translated into roughly $15,000 a year for him, according to tomshardware.com.

The two titles, Northend Tower Defense and Deepstone Rift (Early Access), sold 135,000 units over five years for the $560,000 gross figure. After refunds, Steam's 30% cut, U.S. withholding tax, publisher fees and local taxes, the two co-founders split about $146,000, leaving Develioğlu with approximately $15,000 per year.

Develioğlu said 53.3% of the games' sales came from China, where the refund rate was about 22%, above the commonly cited 10-15% range. Steam applies a 30% platform fee on revenue below $10 million.

An Asian publisher handled PR, distribution and marketing in China, Japan and South Korea for a cut of about $115,000. The developer lived in Iraq and later moved to Thailand, which has a tax treaty with the U.S., though a 5% U.S. withholding tax still applied. Thailand taxed the remaining Northend Studios income at 15%, and the two co-founders split the rest 50/50.

For context, the average wage in Thailand is around $5,280 a year. Both Northend Tower Defense and Deepstone Rift remain available on Steam in Early Access or full release.