Do I ship it?

Games › Destruction › Destruction + Zombies

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Zombie Destruction game?

Destruction + Zombies

Of 20 developers who shipped a Zombie Destruction 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.. 42 more are announced, ×3.5 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $300, ×0.5 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $150. 42 games are announced against 12 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.5 per shipper, while revenue is down 80% on the market.

Deciding numbers: median 0.5 times the market baseline, revenue down 80% on the market, 42 announced, ×3.5 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Destruction + Zombies
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 20
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $89 → $600 → $719 → $2.1k → $300 → $2.4k (still earning) → $179 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Destruction + Zombies: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 20
Bottom 30% $150 (exactly $150)
Median $300 (exactly $300)
Top 25% $2.4k (exactly $2,398)
Top 5% $222k (exactly $221,911)
Developers, 2 yr 20
Released games 72
Announced 42
Effort 6 / 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 80% on the market, supply 50% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 11%, 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.

Destruction
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
Destruction; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Base Building, Shoot 'Em Up
Price point
$9.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
Art
5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Top-Down, 2D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.

The top 10 games average 85% positive over 536 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $150, median $300, 1 in 4 over $2.3k, 1 in 20 over $220k.

3 in 10 developers made under $150. 9 in 10 of the 9 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 42 games are announced against 12 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.5 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + Space SimFair14 devs · median $3.7k · 22 announced
  2. + ModernFair26 devs · median $1.6k · 28 announced
  3. + God GameFair19 devs · median $899 · 20 announced
  4. + Hidden ObjectFair9 devs · median $719 · 14 announced
  5. + Hack and SlashPoor odds19 devs · median $43k · 57 announced
  6. + HistoricalPoor odds15 devs · median $26k · 22 announced
  7. + CapitalismPoor odds17 devs · median $15k · 46 announced
  8. + Online Co-OpPoor odds37 devs · median $13k · 102 announced
  9. + Co-opPoor odds50 devs · median $11k · 113 announced
  10. + Automobile SimPoor odds22 devs · median $9.0k · 44 announced
  11. + ManagementPoor odds36 devs · median $6.1k · 129 announced
  12. + AutomationPoor odds22 devs · median $6.0k · 46 announced

All 139 pairs on the Destruction page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Brick Rigs 2023 · $32M DYSMANTLE 2021 · $6.6M Gas Guzzlers Extreme 2013 · $2.3M Splatter - Zombiecalypse Now 2014 · $440k ACTION SANDBOX 2022 · $236k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Brick Rigs older $19.99 53,749 95% 1.6M $32M (exactly $32,233,275) Fluppisoft GmbH
DYSMANTLE older $19.99 11,022 91% 331k $6.6M (exactly $6,609,893) 10tons Ltd
Gas Guzzlers Extreme older $24.99 3,081 86% 92k $2.3M (exactly $2,309,826) Gamepires
Splatter - Zombiecalypse Now older $6.99 2,098 89% 63k $440k (exactly $439,951) Dreamworlds
ACTION SANDBOX older $9.99 787 73% 24k $236k (exactly $235,864) Vona Soft
DYSPLACED · EA $24.99 296 87% 8.9k $222k (exactly $221,911) 10tons Ltd
Ed-0: Zombie Uprising older $29.99 211 72% 6.3k $190k (exactly $189,837) LANCARSE
Fatal Countdown - immoral List of Desires older $10.99 197 76% 5.9k $65k (exactly $64,951) Secret Garden
Blackout Z: Slaughterhouse Edition older $4.99 325 84% 9.8k $49k (exactly $48,652) NukGames
Clutch older $9.99 125 79% 3.8k $37k (exactly $37,462) Targem Games
Son of a Gun $9.99 80 78% 2.4k $24k (exactly $23,976) Crank Goblin
Deadliest Pigeon $6.99 99 93% 3.0k $21k (exactly $20,760) Rusty Rex
Endzone Girls $7.99 11 90% 330 $2.6k (exactly $2,637) Aozora
Apocalypse Factory · EA $9.99 8 50% 240 $2.4k (exactly $2,398) Mind Leak
The Corruption $9.99 7 71% 210 $2.1k (exactly $2,098) Acellular
Otherworldly Air Gunship $1.99 30 86% 900 $1.8k (exactly $1,791) 黄金喵
Xheres $11.99 3 33% 90 $1.1k (exactly $1,079) TROPIC PENGUIN GAMES
Glory Defence $9.99 1 0% 30 $300 (exactly $300) Waytrel Studio
Doomriderz $9.99 1 0% 30 $300 (exactly $300) SlicedBlue 3D

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