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Should I ship a Zombie Character Customization game?
Character Customization + Zombies
Of 102 developers who shipped a Zombie Character Customization 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.. 167 more are announced, ×3.3 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $2.4k, ×3.8 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $450; 1 in 20 cleared $6.9M, ×11019 the market median. Revenue is up 70% on the market; 167 games are announced against 50 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $449 (exactly $449) |
|---|---|
| Median | $2.4k (exactly $2,399) |
| Top 25% | $21k (exactly $21,094) |
| Top 5% | $6.9M (exactly $6,919,938) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 102 |
| Released games | 266 |
| Announced | 167 |
| Effort | 6 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $7.99 |
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 70% on the market, supply as many developers as the period before.
Free games: 14%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Character Customization
- effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
- Zombies
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- Character Customization; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, RPG, Survival
- Price point
- $7.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
- Art
- 3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Third Person
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.
The top 10 games average 73% positive over 170,272 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $450. 8 in 10 of the 57 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 167 games are announced against 50 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.3 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Character Customization with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Football (American)Strong odds
- + Real-TimeStrong odds
- + Music-Based Procedural GenerationFair
- + TransportationFair
- + MinigamesFair
- + DwarvesFair
- + BikesFair
- + IdlerFair
- + IncrementalFair
- + GamblingFair
- + Precision PlatformerFair
- + TypingFair
Comparable games
7 Days to Die 2024 · $369M 
SCUM 2025 · $133M 
Warhammer 40,000: Darktide 2022 · $130M 
Killing Floor 2 2016 · $78M 
GTFO 2021 · $55M | 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 |
| | SCUM | $44.99 | 98,554 74% | 3.0M | $133M (exactly $133,018,334) | Gamepires | |
| | Warhammer 40,000: Darktide | older | $39.99 | 108,477 72% | 3.3M | $130M (exactly $130,139,857) | Fatshark |
| | Killing Floor 2 | older | $29.99 | 87,158 88% | 2.6M | $78M (exactly $78,416,053) | Tripwire Interactive |
| | GTFO | older | $39.99 | 46,184 86% | 1.4M | $55M (exactly $55,406,945) | 10 Chambers |
 | South Park™: The Stick of Truth™ | older | $29.99 | 60,770 97% | 1.8M | $55M (exactly $54,674,769) | Obsidian Entertainment |
 | Plants vs. Zombies™ Garden Warfare 2: Deluxe Edition | older | $29.99 | 45,480 90% | 1.4M | $41M (exactly $40,918,356) | PopCap |
 | Dead Island 2 | older | $49.99 | 23,309 77% | 699k | $35M (exactly $34,956,507) | Dambuster Studios |
 | World War Z | older | $29.99 | 24,897 82% | 747k | $22M (exactly $22,399,831) | Saber Interactive Inc |
 | Killing Floor 3 | $39.99 | 16,493 46% | 495k | $20M (exactly $19,786,652) | Tripwire Interactive | |
 | No More Room in Hell 2 | $29.99 | 16,725 62% | 502k | $15M (exactly $15,047,482) | Torn Banner Studios | |
 | Tower Unite | $19.99 | 16,237 89% | 487k | $9.7M (exactly $9,737,329) | PixelTail Games | |
 | John Carpenter's Toxic Commando | $39.99 | 6,274 72% | 188k | $7.5M (exactly $7,526,918) | Saber Interactive | |
 | VEIN | · EA | $19.99 | 11,539 87% | 346k | $6.9M (exactly $6,919,938) | Ramjet Studios |
 | Urban Strife | $34.99 | 653 69% | 20k | $685k (exactly $685,454) | White Pond Games | |
 | Zombieville USA 3D | $9.99 | 2,184 92% | 66k | $655k (exactly $654,545) | Mika Mobile, Inc. | |
 | Bad 2 Bad: Apocalypse | $19.99 | 905 77% | 27k | $543k (exactly $542,728) | DAWINSTONE | |
 | Ground Zero | $19.99 | 708 89% | 21k | $425k (exactly $424,588) | Malformation Games |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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