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Should I ship a Zombie Crafting game?
Crafting + Zombies
Of 116 developers who shipped a Zombie Crafting 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.. 262 more are announced, ×4.3 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $3.6k, ×5.7 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $840; 1 in 20 cleared $1.2M, ×2044 the market median. Revenue is up 325% on the market; 262 games are announced against 61 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $839 (exactly $839) |
|---|---|
| Median | $3.6k (exactly $3,598) |
| Top 25% | $25k (exactly $25,175) |
| Top 5% | $1.3M (exactly $1,283,894) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 116 |
| Released games | 354 |
| Announced | 262 |
| 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 up 325% on the market, supply 10% 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
- Crafting; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Survival, Action, Base Building
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $21.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Atmospheric
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $21.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 76% positive over 148,535 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $840. 8 in 10 of the 58 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 262 games are announced against 61 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.3 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Crafting with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Job SimulatorStrong odds
- + SportsFair
- + Turn-BasedFair
- + IdlerFair
- + SolitaireFair
- + LovecraftianPoor odds
- + MMORPGPoor odds
- + LGBTQ+Poor odds
- + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds
- + WesternPoor odds
- + Bullet HeavenPoor odds
- + TrainsPoor odds
Comparable games
The Forest 2018 · $349M 
Project Zomboid 2013 · EA · $274M 
SCUM 2025 · $133M 
Warhammer 40,000: Darktide 2022 · $130M 
Days Gone 2021 · $99M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | 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 |
| | 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 |
| | Days Gone | older | $39.99 | 82,655 92% | 2.5M | $99M (exactly $99,161,204) | Bend Studio |
 | Dead Island 2 | older | $49.99 | 23,309 77% | 699k | $35M (exactly $34,956,507) | Dambuster Studios |
 | Miscreated | older | $29.99 | 23,050 66% | 692k | $21M (exactly $20,738,085) | Entrada Interactive LLC |
 | Dead Island Definitive Edition | older | $19.99 | 24,063 82% | 722k | $14M (exactly $14,430,581) | Techland |
 | Dead Rising 3 Apocalypse Edition | older | $29.99 | 13,849 77% | 415k | $12M (exactly $12,459,945) | Capcom Game Studio Vancouver |
 | Night of the Dead | older | $29.99 | 10,380 77% | 311k | $9.3M (exactly $9,338,886) | Jackto Studios |
 | VEIN | · EA | $19.99 | 11,539 87% | 346k | $6.9M (exactly $6,919,938) | Ramjet Studios |
 | Into the Dead: Our Darkest Days | · EA | $24.99 | 9,049 89% | 271k | $6.8M (exactly $6,784,035) | PikPok |
 | HumanitZ | $19.99 | 11,155 74% | 335k | $6.7M (exactly $6,689,653) | Yodubzz Studios | |
 | No One Survived | $16.99 | 6,969 64% | 209k | $3.6M (exactly $3,552,099) | Cat Play Studio | |
 | Deadly Days: Roadtrip | · EA | $14.99 | 2,855 87% | 86k | $1.3M (exactly $1,283,894) | Pixelsplit |
 | The Walking Trade | $11.99 | 2,733 86% | 82k | $983k (exactly $983,060) | Microwave Games | |
 | Survival Log | $10.99 | 2,709 82% | 81k | $893k (exactly $893,157) | Midnight Workshop | |
 | DREADZONE | · EA | $24.99 | 1,180 51% | 35k | $885k (exactly $884,646) | Eshed |
 | The Spotter: Dig or Die | $12.99 | 1,792 84% | 54k | $698k (exactly $698,342) | Puppyroar Games |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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