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Should I ship a Zombie Co-op game?
Co-op + Zombies
Of 133 developers who shipped a Zombie Co-op 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.. 219 more are announced, ×3.4 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 7 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $3.4k, ×2.2 the market's $1.5k for a 7 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $480; 1 in 20 cleared $6.9M, ×4619 the market median. Revenue is down 25% on the market; 219 games are announced against 65 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $479 (exactly $479) |
|---|---|
| Median | $3.4k (exactly $3,352) |
| Top 25% | $44k (exactly $44,012) |
| Top 5% | $6.9M (exactly $6,919,938) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 133 |
| Released games | 536 |
| Announced | 219 |
| Effort | 7 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Low |
| 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 down 25% on the market, supply as many developers as the period before.
Free games: 16%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is low: the lowest rating among its tags.
What it takes
- Effort
- 7 / 10 · big single-player or serious online
- Systems
- Co-op; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, PvE, Online Co-Op
- Price point
- $7.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with First-Person, 3D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.
The top 10 games average 68% positive over 125,889 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $480. 6 in 10 of the 71 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 219 games are announced against 65 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.4 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Co-op with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + SuperheroFair
- + Boomer ShooterFair
- + GamblingFair
- + NinjaFair
- + TypingLong shot
- + Word GameLong shot
- + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds
- + World War IIPoor odds
- + AutomationPoor odds
- + TransportationPoor odds
- + JRPGPoor odds
- + Turn-BasedPoor odds
Comparable games
DayZ 2018 · $582M 
Dying Light 2 Stay Human: Reloaded Edition 2022 · $297M 
Call of Duty®: Black Ops III 2015 · $284M 
Project Zomboid 2013 · EA · $274M 
Left 4 Dead 2 2009 · $245M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | DayZ | older | $49.99 | 387,850 78% | 12M | $582M (exactly $581,658,645) | Bohemia Interactive |
| | Dying Light 2 Stay Human: Reloaded Edition | older | $59.99 | 164,914 79% | 4.9M | $297M (exactly $296,795,726) | Techland |
| | Call of Duty®: Black Ops III | older | $59.99 | 157,694 88% | 4.7M | $284M (exactly $283,801,892) | Treyarch, Aspyr (Mac) |
| | Project Zomboid | · EA older | $24.99 | 364,830 94% | 11M | $274M (exactly $273,513,051) | The Indie Stone |
| | Left 4 Dead 2 | older | $9.99 | 816,316 97% | 24M | $245M (exactly $244,649,905) | Valve |
 | Hunt: Showdown 1896 | older | $29.99 | 213,023 74% | 6.4M | $192M (exactly $191,656,793) | Crytek |
 | Warhammer 40,000: Darktide | older | $39.99 | 108,477 72% | 3.3M | $130M (exactly $130,139,857) | Fatshark |
 | Resident Evil 3 | older | $39.99 | 90,117 84% | 2.7M | $108M (exactly $108,113,365) | CAPCOM Co., Ltd. |
 | Back 4 Blood | older | $59.99 | 55,160 69% | 1.7M | $99M (exactly $99,271,452) | Turtle Rock Studios |
 | DOOM | older | $19.99 | 155,340 95% | 4.7M | $93M (exactly $93,157,398) | id Software |
 | Call of Duty®: Black Ops 6 | $69.99 | 14,063 44% | 422k | $30M (exactly $29,528,081) | Treyarch, Raven Software, Beenox, High… (Treyarch, Raven Software, Beenox, High Moon Studios, Activision Shanghai, Sledgehammer Games, Infinity Ward, Demonware) | |
 | Pavlov | $24.99 | 37,865 88% | 1.1M | $28M (exactly $28,387,390) | Vankrupt Games | |
 | 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 | |
 | Call of Duty®: Black Ops 7 | $69.99 | 4,344 37% | 130k | $9.1M (exactly $9,121,097) | Treyarch, Raven Software, Beenox, High… (Treyarch, Raven Software, Beenox, High Moon Studios, Sledgehammer Games, Infinity Ward, Activision Shanghai, Demonware) | |
 | 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 |
 | Plants vs. Zombies™: Replanted | $19.99 | 6,898 66% | 207k | $4.1M (exactly $4,136,731) | PopCap Games, The Lost Pixels | |
 | No One Survived | $16.99 | 6,969 64% | 209k | $3.6M (exactly $3,552,099) | Cat Play Studio | |
 | Survive the Nights | $19.99 | 4,719 68% | 142k | $2.8M (exactly $2,829,984) | a2z Interactive |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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