The Game Census
Game Dev Story cover art

Game Dev Story

Kairosoft Co.,Ltd · 2022-03-27

SteamPlayStation StoreMicrosoft Store

CasualIndieSimulationStrategy

Modes: Single player · Perspectives: Bird view / Isometric

Releases: Oct 11, 2018 (Nintendo Switch), Mar 27, 2022 (PC (Microsoft Windows)), Feb 11, 2021 (PlayStation 4), Jul 12, 2010 (Android), Jul 10, 2010 (iOS), Sep 15, 2023 (Xbox One)

Work hard and you may reach the top of the video game industry!

Game Dev Story is a Casual, Indie, Simulation, Strategy game released in 2022, estimated to have 100,000 .. 200,000 owners, priced at $8.99, with a Very Positive review sentiment (90% of 1506 reviews).

12
playing now
90%
positive of 1.5k reviews
Very Positive
steam's rating (official)
100,000–200,000
owners (SteamSpy est.)
70/100
IGDB user rating (30 ratings)
4.40★
PlayStation Store rating (261 ratings)
7h
to beat · completionist 12h
gold
deck/linux tier (ProtonDB)
Verified
Steam Deck (Valve)
SteamOS: Playable
$8.99
steam price (US)

12 players in-game as of 2026-10-15 07:00 UTC (census sample)

Game Dev Story is a simulation video game developed and published by Kairosoft for Microsoft Windows, iOS, Android, and Nintendo Switch. It was released for Windows in April 1997, on iOS and Android on October 9, 2010, for Windows Phone on July 6, 2015, for Nintendo Switch on October 11, 2018, on PlayStation 4 on February 11, 2021, on Steam on March 27, 2022, and on Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S on September 15, 2023. The game follows a player-controlled video game company and its attempts to expand into a sales powerhouse over time. As a simulation, the game and the direction of the company is controlled by the player, following a parallel timeline of the video game industry and its history. The game was released to positive reviews, with many reviewers focusing on Game Dev Story's addictive aspects and its witty references to video game pop culture.

Health check

Quietly active
  • · 12 players in-game at the last census sample.
  • · 172 reviews in the last 8 weeks (~22/week).
  • · Review velocity up 13% vs the prior 8 weeks.
  • · Top 6% of 29,339 Casual games in the census by review count.

Health tier since 2026-08-31

Estimated sales: 30k–68k copies

Review-multiple estimate from 1,506 total reviews — how this is computed.

Current store prices

Microsoft Store$11.99

Deal snapshots via CheapShark, refreshed daily.

All-time low: $2.69 at Steam (2025-12-18)via IsThereAnyDeal

12-month high $11.99 · on sale 8 of 15 observed days (census price snapshots)

Review momentum

PositiveNegative
797920222026Week of 2022-03-01: 61 positiveWeek of 2022-03-01: 19 negativeWeek of 2022-04-01: 79 positiveWeek of 2022-04-01: 12 negativeWeek of 2022-05-01: 42 positiveWeek of 2022-05-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2022-06-01: 77 positiveWeek of 2022-06-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2022-07-01: 52 positiveWeek of 2022-07-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2022-08-01: 40 positiveWeek of 2022-08-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2022-09-01: 15 positiveWeek of 2022-09-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2022-10-01: 12 positiveWeek of 2022-10-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2022-11-01: 46 positiveWeek of 2022-11-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2022-12-01: 16 positiveWeek of 2022-12-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2023-01-01: 21 positiveWeek of 2023-01-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2023-02-01: 15 positiveWeek of 2023-02-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2023-03-01: 14 positiveWeek of 2023-03-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2023-04-01: 16 positiveWeek of 2023-04-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2023-05-01: 25 positiveWeek of 2023-05-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2023-06-01: 10 positiveWeek of 2023-07-01: 21 positiveWeek of 2023-08-01: 27 positiveWeek of 2023-08-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2023-09-01: 72 positiveWeek of 2023-09-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2023-10-01: 43 positiveWeek of 2023-10-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2023-11-01: 25 positiveWeek of 2023-11-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2023-12-01: 28 positiveWeek of 2023-12-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2024-01-01: 15 positiveWeek of 2024-01-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2024-02-01: 30 positiveWeek of 2024-02-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2024-03-01: 17 positiveWeek of 2024-03-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2024-04-01: 11 positiveWeek of 2024-05-01: 14 positiveWeek of 2024-05-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2024-06-01: 52 positiveWeek of 2024-06-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2024-07-01: 25 positiveWeek of 2024-07-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2024-08-01: 20 positiveWeek of 2024-08-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2024-09-01: 21 positiveWeek of 2024-09-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2024-10-01: 19 positiveWeek of 2024-10-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2024-11-01: 9 positiveWeek of 2024-12-01: 38 positiveWeek of 2024-12-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2025-01-01: 42 positiveWeek of 2025-01-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2025-02-01: 13 positiveWeek of 2025-02-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2025-03-01: 25 positiveWeek of 2025-03-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2025-04-01: 13 positiveWeek of 2025-05-01: 24 positiveWeek of 2025-05-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2025-06-01: 21 positiveWeek of 2025-06-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2025-07-01: 28 positiveWeek of 2025-07-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2025-08-01: 19 positiveWeek of 2025-09-01: 9 positiveWeek of 2025-09-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2025-10-01: 13 positiveWeek of 2025-10-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2025-11-01: 11 positiveWeek of 2025-11-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2025-12-01: 9 positiveWeek of 2025-12-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2026-01-01: 16 positiveWeek of 2026-01-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2026-02-01: 11 positiveWeek of 2026-02-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2026-03-01: 12 positiveWeek of 2026-03-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2026-04-01: 9 positiveWeek of 2026-04-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2026-05-01: 15 positiveWeek of 2026-06-01: 45 positiveWeek of 2026-06-01: 9 negativeWeek of 2026-07-01: 22 positiveWeek of 2026-07-01: 9 negativeWeek of 2026-08-01: 25 positiveWeek of 2026-08-01: 1 negative
Weekly review counts (Steam review histogram). Positive above the line, negative below.

Players online

4032026-09-15 16:00 — 11 players2026-09-17 00:00 — 9 players2026-09-18 08:00 — 20 players2026-09-19 15:00 — 26 players2026-09-20 23:00 — 7 players2026-09-22 06:00 — 13 players2026-09-23 14:00 — 36 players2026-09-24 21:00 — 8 players2026-09-26 05:00 — 20 players2026-09-27 12:00 — 32 players2026-09-28 20:00 — 3 players2026-09-30 03:00 — 10 players2026-10-01 11:00 — 18 players2026-10-02 18:00 — 14 players2026-10-04 02:00 — 27 players2026-10-05 10:00 — 39 players2026-10-06 18:00 — 24 players2026-10-08 01:00 — 11 players2026-10-09 09:00 — 33 players2026-10-10 16:00 — 25 players2026-10-12 00:00 — 11 players2026-10-13 07:00 — 15 players2026-10-14 15:00 — 17 players2026-10-15 07:00 — 12 players
Concurrent players, hourly average, last 30 days (census samples).
12412Apr 2022Aug 2026Apr 2022 — avg 49 · peak 207Jun 2022 — avg 57 · peak 282Aug 2022 — avg 26 · peak 87Oct 2022 — avg 15 · peak 54Dec 2022 — avg 15 · peak 56Feb 2023 — avg 19 · peak 58Apr 2023 — avg 15 · peak 67Jun 2023 — avg 12 · peak 30Aug 2023 — avg 25 · peak 68Oct 2023 — avg 68 · peak 218Dec 2023 — avg 28 · peak 67Feb 2024 — avg 33 · peak 99Apr 2024 — avg 16 · peak 39Jun 2024 — avg 49 · peak 154Aug 2024 — avg 26 · peak 62Oct 2024 — avg 27 · peak 82Dec 2024 — avg 36 · peak 156Feb 2025 — avg 18 · peak 38Apr 2025 — avg 17 · peak 63Jun 2025 — avg 18 · peak 64Aug 2025 — avg 25 · peak 64Oct 2025 — avg 19 · peak 57Dec 2025 — avg 22 · peak 57Feb 2026 — avg 16 · peak 45Apr 2026 — avg 16 · peak 52Jun 2026 — avg 77 · peak 249Aug 2026 — avg 27 · peak 66
Monthly average players (source: steamcharts.com) — history via steamcharts.com; live census sampling since Aug 2026.

Price history

$12.00$2.692022-03-282026-10-092022-03-28 — best price $9.362022-05-18 — best price $8.992022-06-03 — best price $8.992022-07-07 — best price $8.992022-08-22 — best price $8.992022-10-03 — best price $8.992022-11-29 — best price $8.992023-02-02 — best price $6.292023-03-16 — best price $4.492023-04-27 — best price $4.492023-06-30 — best price $4.492023-08-05 — best price $4.492023-09-19 — best price $10.792023-10-14 — best price $4.492023-11-21 — best price $3.592023-12-21 — best price $3.412024-02-11 — best price $3.322024-03-14 — best price $2.962024-06-11 — best price $2.872024-06-27 — best price $2.872024-08-15 — best price $4.492024-09-28 — best price $4.492024-11-27 — best price $3.412024-12-19 — best price $3.322025-01-16 — best price $8.992025-03-20 — best price $8.992025-05-12 — best price $8.992025-07-10 — best price $8.992025-08-29 — best price $8.992025-10-06 — best price $8.992026-01-05 — best price $8.992026-01-20 — best price $8.992026-03-26 — best price $8.992026-06-14 — best price $8.992026-09-04 — best price $11.992026-09-18 — best price $11.992026-10-02 — best price $11.992026-10-09 — best price $11.99
Lowest recorded price across tracked stores, per day (census snapshots).

Attention

268152026-05-31 — 26 pageviews2026-06-04 — 26 pageviews2026-06-08 — 43 pageviews2026-06-12 — 60 pageviews2026-06-16 — 53 pageviews2026-06-20 — 39 pageviews2026-06-24 — 51 pageviews2026-06-28 — 53 pageviews2026-07-02 — 38 pageviews2026-07-06 — 42 pageviews2026-07-10 — 21 pageviews2026-07-14 — 28 pageviews2026-07-18 — 29 pageviews2026-07-22 — 32 pageviews2026-07-26 — 21 pageviews2026-07-30 — 45 pageviews2026-08-03 — 39 pageviews2026-08-07 — 31 pageviews2026-08-11 — 31 pageviews2026-08-15 — 31 pageviews2026-08-19 — 23 pageviews2026-08-23 — 20 pageviews2026-08-27 — 24 pageviews2026-08-31 — 26 pageviews2026-09-04 — 36 pageviews2026-09-08 — 23 pageviews2026-09-12 — 32 pageviews2026-09-16 — 26 pageviews2026-09-20 — 46 pageviews2026-09-24 — 25 pageviews2026-09-28 — 34 pageviews2026-10-02 — 57 pageviews2026-10-06 — 38 pageviews2026-10-09 — 27 pageviews
Daily Wikipedia pageviews (attention proxy, census-recorded).

Completion

6
achievements tracked
86.1%
earned "Just started a game company."
29%
median achievement earned by

Global achievement rates from Steam.

Details

WindowsFull controller supportSingle-playerSteam AchievementsFull controller supportSteam CloudFamily Sharing

14 supported languages: English, French, Italian, German, Spanish - Spain, Thai, Turkish, Russian, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Japanese, Korean…

Console footprint

PlatformPlayers trackedCompletionTrophies/achievements
Steam (Steam)1,70727%6
PS4 (PlayStation)57545%6
Xbox Series, Xbox One (Xbox)31243%10
Switch (Nintendo)550%0

Players tracked by Exophase (achievement/trophy trackers) — a sample of the player base, not total sales.

Player tags

2DCuteCasualBuildingLife SimSoftwareStrategyManagementSimulationProgramming

Census log

Computed from census-recorded observations only — dates are observation dates.

Players also track

Star Control®: OriginsSurvivalistAnother Brick in The MallForce of NatureMashinkyWeapon Shop FantasyStartup CompanyAncient Cities

Similarity via IGDB.

Official site ↗Wikipedia ↗