Do I ship it?

Games › Arena Shooter › Arena Shooter + Zombies

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Zombie Arena Shooter?

Arena Shooter + Zombies

Of 70 developers who shipped a Zombie Arena Shooter in the last 2 years: 3 in 10 made under est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method., the middle one made est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method., 1 in 4 cleared est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method., 1 in 20 cleared est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 83 more are announced, ×2.4 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: dead, for a 6 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $450 in the last 2 years and $450 over 4, against a market of $630 for a 6 / 10 build. 34 developers shipped in the last year and 83 games are announced.

Deciding numbers: median 0.7 times the market baseline, revenue up 95% on the market, 83 announced, ×2.4 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Arena Shooter + Zombies
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 70
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $836 → $300 → $564 → $3.8k → $150 → $539 → $505 (still earning) → $0 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Arena Shooter + Zombies: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 70
Bottom 30% $119 (exactly $119)
Median $446 (exactly $446)
Top 25% $2.7k (exactly $2,697)
Top 5% $50k (exactly $50,299)
Developers, 2 yr 70
Released games 248
Announced 83
Effort 6 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $4.99

momentum: how a niche's revenue percentiles and developer count moved between two equal, adjacent periods, divided by the market's own move. See method., 12 months: revenue up 95% on the market, supply as many developers as the period before.

Free games: 13%, excluded from money figures.

See every window in the explorer →

Plate 2 · systems and tooling

Can AI deliver it?

AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.

Arena Shooter
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
Zombies
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
Systems
Arena Shooter; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Shooter, FPS
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
Art
3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with First-Person, 3D, Atmospheric
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 72% positive over 3,513 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $120, median $450, 1 in 4 over $2.6k, 1 in 20 over $50k.

3 in 10 developers made under $120. 8 in 10 of the 44 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 83 games are announced against 34 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.4 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Arena Shooter with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + IncrementalFair15 devs · median $3.5k · 20 announced
  2. + DemonsFair54 devs · median $1.3k · 55 announced
  3. + 2D PlatformerFair45 devs · median $809 · 43 announced
  4. + Multiple EndingsFair18 devs · median $597 · 16 announced
  5. + CollectathonLong shot12 devs · median $150 · 13 announced
  6. + DeckbuildingPoor odds9 devs · median $3.1k · 26 announced
  7. + Bullet HeavenPoor odds75 devs · median $2.3k · 101 announced
  8. + Class-BasedPoor odds19 devs · median $2.2k · 50 announced
  9. + Boomer ShooterPoor odds133 devs · median $1.8k · 165 announced
  10. + Dark FantasyPoor odds59 devs · median $1.7k · 85 announced
  11. + On-Rails ShooterPoor odds10 devs · median $1.5k · 11 announced
  12. + RPGPoor odds88 devs · median $1.4k · 124 announced

All 134 pairs on the Arena Shooter page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Gas Guzzlers Extreme 2013 · $2.3M Painkiller: Black Edition 2007 · $578k FatalZone 2024 · $446k Murder Miners 2014 · $356k Yet Another Zombie Defense HD 2017 · $307k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Gas Guzzlers Extreme older $24.99 3,081 86% 92k $2.3M (exactly $2,309,826) Gamepires
Painkiller: Black Edition older $9.99 1,928 89% 58k $578k (exactly $577,822) People Can Fly
FatalZone $6.99 2,125 66% 64k $446k (exactly $445,612) Midhard Games
Murder Miners older $2.99 3,965 87% 119k $356k (exactly $355,660) JForce Games
Yet Another Zombie Defense HD older $3.99 2,561 84% 77k $307k (exactly $306,552) Awesome Games Studio
Hellbreach: Vegas older $14.99 504 74% 15k $227k (exactly $226,649) Infinity Ape Studios
Zombie Training Simulator older $19.99 227 92% 6.8k $136k (exactly $136,132) Acceleroto, Inc.
HELLBREAK $14.99 275 76% 8.3k $124k (exactly $123,668) Double Barrel Games
Iron Fisticle older $8.99 353 85% 11k $95k (exactly $95,204) Confused Pelican
Alien Shooter 2 - New Era older $9.99 272 50% 8.2k $82k (exactly $81,518) Sigma Team Inc.
Blood Rush · EA $14.49 161 98% 4.8k $70k (exactly $69,987) MaxEstLa
GUNTOUCHABLES $4.99 336 75% 10k $50k (exactly $50,299) Game Swing
MeowGun: Hell Denizen $12.99 114 98% 3.4k $44k (exactly $44,426) SusaDeBastet
Only Whores Survive 🔞 $9.99 148 61% 4.4k $44k (exactly $44,356) BanzaiProject
Deadliest Pigeon $6.99 99 93% 3.0k $21k (exactly $20,760) Rusty Rex
Finnish Cabin Mayhem - Mökkimähinä $4.99 129 94% 3.9k $19k (exactly $19,311) Sophisticated keppana enjoyers
UBERSLAUGHTER $9.99 54 87% 1.6k $16k (exactly $16,184) BillyBobCletus
Letifer $4.99 72 80% 2.2k $11k (exactly $10,778) Third Spirit Games

Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.