# Wasteland 3

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

- Steam appid: 719040
- Developer: inXile Entertainment
- Released: 2020 · Genre: RPG · List price: $39.99
- Deal grade: A (A = dormant with >=$5k/mo opportunity, D = low signal)
- Est. net residual revenue: $11.7k to $17.6k per month (mid $14.7k)
- Opportunity score: $23.5k/month at x1.60 dormancy multiplier
- Est. lifetime owners: 516.4k · Est. lifetime net revenue: $4.4M
- Review sentiment: 85% positive across 22329 reviews (17212 from Steam purchases)
- Review velocity: 68.3 reviews/month (6-month average)

## Why it's flagged

- Developer silent for 3.8 years
- Studio active elsewhere (9 titles tracked), so this one may welcome a partner
- Last build shipped 9 months ago
- Last discounted 1 months ago, 8 sales in the last 12 months
- Proven demand elasticity: x1.2 review velocity during past deep sales

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

| Stage | USD/month |
|---|---|
| Gross storefront sales | $26.7k |
| After VAT / sales tax (-13% blended) | $23.2k |
| After refunds (-9.5% median) | $21.0k |
| Net to developer (after Steam 30%) | $14.7k |

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

95, 105, 160, 95, 137, 115, 66, 85, 63, 69, 68, 70, 93, 69, 75, 55, 117, 97, 77, 50, 78, 54, 68, 83

## Estimated acquisition range

$352.4k to $704.8k (2-4x the trailing net annuity of $176.2k/year). Same error range applies.

## Analyst notes (AI-assisted)

Wasteland 3 is a 2020 turn-based tactical CRPG from inXile Entertainment set in a frozen Colorado wasteland, featuring party customization, moral choice systems, and co-op play.

Wasteland 3 has generated $4.4M lifetime on 516k units at a $40 price point and maintains 85% positive reviews despite persistent, acknowledged bugs that suppress both retention and new sales. The game remains mechanically sound and critically recognized as a strong mid-tier tactics RPG, but a fixable stability crisis and narrative pacing issues in the second half are leaving money on the table. A studio acquisition, publisher partnership, or third-party bug-fix campaign could unlock significant latent demand, especially in co-op where multiplayer friction is highest.

- Most realistic play: acquisition
- Risk (tech): Acknowledged, unfixed game-breaking bugs ("cannot end turn", range-attack soft-lock, CPU core crashes) are cited repeatedly across reviews and likely require engine-level rework or senior engineering effort.
- Risk (market): Narrative and pacing criticism (script maturity, empty second-half content, weak endings) suggests design debt that may limit revival upside without substantial creative rework.
- Risk (multiplayer): Co-op mode amplifies bug impact and player frustration; multiplayer stability was never prioritized post-launch.

What players are asking for:
- Fix core game-breaking bugs: end-turn lockups, sniper range-attack soft-locks, and CPU affinity crashes.
- Restore mid-to-late game pacing: add towns, NPCs, and contextual side quests instead of random camp clearing.
- Improve co-op stability and make multiplayer a launch-parity feature, not an afterthought.
- Extend or clarify ending cinematics and post-game closure.

Suggested first moves:
1. Commission a technical audit of the three named game-breaking bugs and co-op crash patterns; estimate engineering lift for a 2-3 month stability patch.
2. Survey dormant players (churn post-month-3) on likelihood to return if core bugs are fixed; benchmark against contemporary tactics RPGs to size true addressable upside.
3. Evaluate narrative/design rework scope for second-half pacing: determine if a content DLC (3-4 new hubs, branching quests) or full rewrite of acts 3-4 is required to move upmarket.

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/719040
Citation: please cite ResidualPlay (https://residualplay.com) when using these estimates.