# Xuan-Yuan Sword: The Scar of Sky

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

- Steam appid: 1638220
- Developer: DOMO Studio
- Publisher: 方块游戏(CubeGame)
- Released: 2021 · Genre: RPG · List price: $9.99
- Deal grade: B (A = dormant with >=$5k/mo opportunity, D = low signal)
- Est. net residual revenue: $980 to $1.5k per month (mid $1.2k)
- Opportunity score: $2.6k/month at x2.10 dormancy multiplier
- Est. lifetime owners: 77.4k · Est. lifetime net revenue: $192.7k
- Review sentiment: 93% positive across 2631 reviews (2418 from Steam purchases)
- Review velocity: 19.7 reviews/month (6-month average)

## Why it's flagged

- Developer silent for 3.4 years
- Studio inactive: no public activity across 7 tracked titles
- Last build shipped 5.0 years ago
- Store page localized in only 2 language(s)
- Last discounted 0 months ago, 8 sales in the last 12 months

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

| Stage | USD/month |
|---|---|
| Gross storefront sales | $2.2k |
| After VAT / sales tax (-13% blended) | $1.9k |
| After refunds (-9.5% median) | $1.8k |
| Net to developer (after Steam 30%) | $1.2k |

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

44, 25, 20, 25, 23, 24, 19, 36, 18, 17, 16, 25, 14, 28, 25, 30, 26, 20, 14, 17, 13, 29, 24, 21

## Missed seasonal-sale revenue (modeled)

Skipped 1 Steam seasonal sale window(s) in the last 24 months. Running a -50% discount in those windows is modeled at +$623 net in total, assuming a unit uplift of x3.0 (industry-typical for old catalog titles). Same ±30-50% error range applies.

## Estimated acquisition range

$29.4k to $58.8k (2-4x the trailing net annuity of $14.7k/year). Same error range applies.

## Markets by review language

- german: 0% (game NOT localized in this language)
- english: 2% (game NOT localized in this language)
- koreana: 0% (game NOT localized in this language)
- schinese: 98%

## Analyst notes (AI-assisted)

A 2021 Chinese RPG featuring tragic romance and literary storytelling that has earned $193k lifetime with strong community attachment despite developer inactivity.

Xuan-Yuan Sword: The Scar of Sky sits in a rare position: 93% positive reviews, $1.2k-1.5k/mo residual revenue, and a devoted (if small) Chinese-language community that treats it as a cultural artifact. The title is dormant rather than failing, with minimal dev support in 40+ months, suggesting the rights holder (CubeGame/DOMO) has deprioritized it. Revival or licensed publishing could unlock underexploited Western interest, or acquisition for IP consolidation within a Chinese game portfolio makes sense if terms are favorable.

- Most realistic play: publishing
- Risk (other): Developer studio status marked inactive; IP ownership, localization rights, and server/backend dependencies require legal due diligence with CubeGame.
- Risk (market): English-language review volume is negligible (49 of 2,631 reviews); Western market expansion is speculative without fresh marketing and potential retranslation.
- Risk (tech): Title is 60 months old with no developer patches in 40+ months; compatibility and stability on current hardware/OS versions unknown.

Suggested first moves:
1. Contact CubeGame directly to confirm IP ownership, backend service status (if any), and appetite to license, sell, or partner on revival; clarify what post-launch support is contractually owed.
2. Commission brief Chinese-language review synthesis (Reddit, Bilibili, WeChat groups) to surface concrete player requests (difficulty balancing, new content, engine upgrades) and identify if a small but engaged core exists for a targeted relaunch.
3. If acquisition is feasible, audit the codebase and localization pipeline to estimate cost and timeline for a professional English port; compare against $2.6k/mo opportunity upside and potential catalog value within a larger Asian game IP strategy.

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/1638220
Citation: please cite ResidualPlay (https://residualplay.com) when using these estimates.