Games › Building › Building + Zombies
Should I ship a Zombie Building game?
Building + Zombies
Of 82 developers who shipped a Zombie Building game 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.. 149 more are announced, ×3.1 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $3.6k, ×5.8 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $840; 1 in 20 cleared $880k, ×1409 the market median. Revenue is down 20% on the market; 149 games are announced against 48 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $839 (exactly $839) |
|---|---|
| Median | $3.6k (exactly $3,627) |
| Top 25% | $27k (exactly $27,432) |
| Top 5% | $885k (exactly $884,646) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 82 |
| Released games | 272 |
| Announced | 149 |
| Effort | 5 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $9.99 |
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 down 20% on the market, supply 40% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 8%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Building; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Base Building, Survival, Sandbox
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Atmospheric
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 75% positive over 29,306 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $840. 7 in 10 of the 39 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 149 games are announced against 48 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.1 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Building with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Job SimulatorStrong odds
- + CatsFair
- + TabletopFair
- + Grid-Based MovementFair
- + Interactive FictionFair
- + Vehicular CombatPoor odds
- + JRPGPoor odds
- + Dating SimPoor odds
- + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds
- + Real-TimePoor odds
- + CrimePoor odds
- + SailingPoor odds
Comparable games
7 Days to Die 2024 · $369M 
The Forest 2018 · $349M 
Project Zomboid 2013 · EA · $274M 
They Are Billions 2019 · $42M 
Brick Rigs 2023 · $32M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | 7 Days to Die | older | $44.99 | 273,589 87% | 8.2M | $369M (exactly $369,263,073) | The Fun Pimps |
| | The Forest | older | $19.99 | 581,431 95% | 17M | $349M (exactly $348,684,171) | Endnight Games Ltd |
| | Project Zomboid | · EA older | $24.99 | 364,830 94% | 11M | $274M (exactly $273,513,051) | The Indie Stone |
| | They Are Billions | older | $29.99 | 46,223 85% | 1.4M | $42M (exactly $41,586,833) | Numantian Games |
| | Brick Rigs | older | $19.99 | 53,749 95% | 1.6M | $32M (exactly $32,233,275) | Fluppisoft GmbH |
 | Night of the Dead | older | $29.99 | 10,380 77% | 311k | $9.3M (exactly $9,338,886) | Jackto Studios |
 | Quarantine Zone: The Last Check | $19.99 | 11,827 81% | 355k | $7.1M (exactly $7,092,652) | Brigada Games | |
 | Colony Survival | · EA older | $24.95 | 8,260 92% | 248k | $6.2M (exactly $6,182,610) | Pipliz |
 | No One Survived | $16.99 | 6,969 64% | 209k | $3.6M (exactly $3,552,099) | Cat Play Studio | |
 | SURVIVAL: Postapocalypse Now | older | $14.99 | 7,752 55% | 233k | $3.5M (exactly $3,486,074) | TB Games |
 | Dread Dawn | $19.99 | 2,113 71% | 63k | $1.3M (exactly $1,267,166) | Kioop | |
 | The Walking Trade | $11.99 | 2,733 86% | 82k | $983k (exactly $983,060) | Microwave Games | |
 | DREADZONE | · EA | $24.99 | 1,180 51% | 35k | $885k (exactly $884,646) | Eshed |
 | After Inc: Revival | $17.99 | 1,480 77% | 44k | $799k (exactly $798,756) | Ndemic Creations | |
 | Human Host | · EA | $16.88 | 866 83% | 26k | $439k (exactly $438,542) | Virtual Matrix Studio |
 | Outbreak Island | · EA | $14.99 | 955 78% | 29k | $429k (exactly $429,464) | Tiny Magicians |
 | Survival Machine | $19.99 | 692 69% | 21k | $415k (exactly $414,992) | Grape Pickers | |
 | Darfall | $24.99 | 491 71% | 15k | $368k (exactly $368,103) | SquareNite |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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