It is 4 years or so after release.
There are an unspecified amount of hours spent maintaining the game and adding new features but these appear to be minimal and sporadic.

Most games make pretty much zero income 4 years after release

Most games make pretty much zero income 4 years after release

My point exactly. Long-lasting revenues = good revenues.

Basic maths:

1 - Make one game a year.

2 - Each game starts grossing x$ / year after production

3 - Each game costs y$ to produce

Putting random numbers in:

Year 1: -100 000 (Total Balance = -100 000)

Year 2: + 54 000 - 100 000 (Total Balance = -146 000)

Year 3: + 54 000 + 54 000 - 100 000 (Total Balance = -138 000)

Year 4: +54 000 + 54 000 + 54 000 - 100 000 (Total Balance = -76 000)

Year 5: +54 000 + 54 000 + 54 000 + 54 000 - 100 000 (Total Balance = +40 000)

And this assumes you did not cash out earlier.

It is however more than probably than this is a unique case and that most games that manage to hit niche markets successfully wouldn't have this kind of income 4 years later...

I do think that the low-cost subscription model is key to their success though (and justifies "sales" 4 years down the road).

Joshua has been faced with a lot of "shut up and take my money" as well where the player base suggested increasing the actual subscription cost.