# Postal III

> ResidualPlay case file: an overlooked Steam game still earning residual revenue. Estimates carry a ±30-50% error range per title.

- Steam appid: 10220
- Developer: Trashmasters
- Publisher: Akella
- Released: 2012 · Genre: Action · List price: $5.99
- Deal grade: B (A = dormant with >=$5k/mo opportunity, D = low signal)
- Est. net residual revenue: $1.4k to $2.1k per month (mid $1.8k)
- Opportunity score: $3.3k/month at x1.90 dormancy multiplier
- Est. lifetime owners: 360.1k · Est. lifetime net revenue: $463.7k
- Review sentiment: 47% positive across 6222 reviews (4802 from Steam purchases)
- Review velocity: 54.5 reviews/month (6-month average)

## Why it's flagged

- Developer silent for 2.6 years
- Studio quiet across its whole catalog
- Last build shipped 31 months ago

## Where a gross dollar goes (monthly, at current velocity)

| Stage | USD/month |
|---|---|
| Gross storefront sales | $3.2k |
| After VAT / sales tax (-13% blended) | $2.8k |
| After refunds (-9.5% median) | $2.5k |
| Net to developer (after Steam 30%) | $1.8k |

## Monthly review counts, oldest to newest (24 months)

51, 53, 48, 40, 65, 63, 48, 59, 49, 47, 54, 71, 64, 69, 113, 63, 81, 97, 61, 61, 36, 51, 60, 58

## Estimated acquisition range

$42.1k to $84.2k (2-4x the trailing net annuity of $21.1k/year). Same error range applies.

## Analyst notes (AI-assisted)

Postal III is a 2012 third-person action-comedy shooter from Trashmasters that has generated $464k lifetime but remains technically unstable and critically divisive.

The title sits in a strange middle ground: it holds a 47% positive rating with a small but vocal audience that defends it via community patches (the Ultra Patch appears essential), yet still earns $1,754/mo residual revenue with flat 12-month sales velocity and a developer gone quiet for 31 months. It is not a strong acquisition target on its own (licensed IP risk, technical debt, minimal franchise leverage), but may interest a publisher seeking either a low-risk publishing refresh (patch stabilization, modest marketing) or a case study in dormant mid-budget IP. The franchise itself (owned by Running With Scissors, not Trashmasters) remains creatively active; Postal 4 launched in 2024, suggesting some market appetite.

- Most realistic play: publishing
- Risk (tech): Recurring crash reports (final boss, mysterious maze level, save-reload failures) and performance issues indicate the codebase remains brittle; stabilization cost is unknown but non-trivial.
- Risk (market): The franchise IP (Postal) is owned by Running With Scissors, not the developer or current publisher; any rights to publish or revise rest with RWS and would require renegotiation.
- Risk (other): Postal III exists in a franchise shadow: Postal 2 has a loyal cult following and active modding scene, while Postal 4 is the canonical successor; repositioning III requires either a niche tactical angle or explicit canon-repair positioning.

What players are asking for:
- Stabilization patch addressing crashes, save corruption, and framerate (mentioned in multiple reviews)
- Rebalance of melee combat and third-person camera feel (cited as 'janky' vs. Postal 2 standard)
- Redux or full remaster ('make it good') rather than incremental fixes
- Explicit compatibility with Ultra Patch as official or bundled (community patch is workaround, not solution)

Suggested first moves:
1. Verify IP license terms with Running With Scissors (owner of Postal franchise): clarify scope of publishing, patching, and marketing rights; determine if Trashmasters/Akella can grant full control or if RWS approval is required for any revision.
2. Commission a technical audit of the crash reports and performance profile (save-reload, final boss loop, level load transitions) to estimate stabilization cost and scope; if under $50k, a polish pass becomes viable.
3. Test a limited publishing refresh (bundle Ultra Patch as official, minor QA pass, modest Steam visibility push) in a single market for 3 months to measure incremental revenue lift; compare lift-to-cost ratio against competing catalog revivals before committing to wider campaign.

Generated 2026-08-20 from public signals and player reviews. Directional, not diligence.

## Methodology

Units are estimated from Steam-purchase reviews times a release-cohort multiplier (Boxleiter method, 20-75x by year). Revenue uses an effective price (lifetime discounts and regional pricing) and nets out VAT (~13%), refunds (~9.5%) and Steam's 30% cut: roughly 55% of gross reaches the developer.

Source: https://residualplay.com/game/10220
Citation: please cite ResidualPlay (https://residualplay.com) when using these estimates.