Northend Games Co-Founder Says 13 Percent Of Steam Revenue Reached Him
The breakdown puts a number on an indie complaint that is usually argued in the abstract: with a 22 percent refund rate and a 30 percent store cut, gross Steam revenue can shrink to a sliver before the developer is paid.
Reporting from 1 source: Automaton.
Omer Mustafa, co-founder of indie developer Northend Games, posted to Reddit's r/gamedev on October 7 that his two Dustland titles earned 560,000 dollars on Steam over five years, but only 73,000 dollars reached him. He listed refunds, Steam's 30 percent cut, U.S. withholding tax, publisher payments, and Thai income tax as deductions. Some questioned the calculation, calling it clickbait.
Mustafa released two Dustland games: Dustland: Position Battle in September 2024 and Dustland: Ore Vein Defense Line in early access in December 2025. Both are distributed for PC via Steam, and both carry a Mostly Positive user review status. The largest single deduction he reports is refunds, 134,000 dollars off the 560,000 dollar total, a 22 percent refund rate. He attributes the rate to the Chinese market, which he says accounted for more than 60 percent of sales for both titles. His own share is half the 146,000 dollars left for Northend Games.
Synthesized by Yomimono from the 1 cited source below, including Japanese-language reporting where cited, then editorially reviewed before publishing.