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Should I ship a Zombie Hero Shooter?
Hero Shooter + Zombies
Of 30 developers who shipped a Zombie Hero Shooter 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.. 36 more are announced, ×4.0 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: dead, for a 9 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $450 in the last 2 years and $300 over 4, against a market of $1.3k for a 9 / 10 build. 9 developers shipped in the last year and 36 games are announced.
| Bottom 30% | $59 (exactly $59) |
|---|---|
| Median | $449 (exactly $449) |
| Top 25% | $1.9k (exactly $1,919) |
| Top 5% | $64k (exactly $63,536) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 30 |
| Released games | 128 |
| Announced | 36 |
| Effort | 9 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Low |
| Typical price | $6.99 |
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 475% on the market, supply 55% fewer developers than the period before.
Free games: 13%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is low: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Hero Shooter
- effort 9 / 10 · low · competitive netcode plus hero balance and content cadence
- Zombies
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 9 / 10 · studio only
- Systems
- Hero Shooter; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Adventure, Shooter
- Price point
- $6.99 typical · top 25% priced $9.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Realistic
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $9.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.
The top 10 games average 81% positive over 995 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $59. 8 in 10 of the 26 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 36 games are announced against 9 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.0 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Hero Shooter with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + SimulationLong shot
- + Bullet HellLong shot
- + Boomer ShooterLong shot
- + MedievalLong shot
- + Online Co-OpPoor odds
- + SuperheroPoor odds
- + Battle RoyalePoor odds
- + Co-opPoor odds
- + PvPPoor odds
- + PlatformerPoor odds
- + Character CustomizationPoor odds
- + PhysicsPoor odds
Comparable games
Call of Duty®: Black Ops III 2015 · $284M 
Plants vs. Zombies™ Garden Warfare 2: Deluxe Edition 2022 · $41M 
Call of Duty®: Infinite Warfare 2016 · $31M 
Plants vs. Zombies: Battle for Neighborville™ 2020 · $14M 
Them and Us 2021 · $1.5M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Call of Duty®: Black Ops III | older | $59.99 | 157,694 88% | 4.7M | $284M (exactly $283,801,892) | Treyarch, Aspyr (Mac) |
| | Plants vs. Zombies™ Garden Warfare 2: Deluxe Edition | older | $29.99 | 45,480 90% | 1.4M | $41M (exactly $40,918,356) | PopCap |
| | Call of Duty®: Infinite Warfare | older | $59.99 | 17,489 65% | 525k | $31M (exactly $31,474,953) | Infinity Ward |
| | Plants vs. Zombies: Battle for Neighborville™ | older | $29.99 | 15,372 71% | 461k | $14M (exactly $13,830,188) | PopCap |
| | Them and Us | older | $39.99 | 1,216 76% | 36k | $1.5M (exactly $1,458,835) | TendoGames Co., Ltd. |
 | Acquitted | older | $7.95 | 755 96% | 23k | $180k (exactly $180,068) | Nordic Empire Games |
 | The Living Remain | $19.99 | 289 79% | 8.7k | $173k (exactly $173,313) | Five Finger Studios | |
 | KUNKUN Defender | older | $2.99 | 822 97% | 25k | $74k (exactly $73,733) | Seal |
 | Lust 'n Dead 🔞 | $9.99 | 212 66% | 6.4k | $64k (exactly $63,536) | Octo Games | |
 | WILD SEX: WET GIRLS | older | $9.99 | 203 60% | 6.1k | $61k (exactly $60,839) | Octo Games |
 | KUNKUN Defender 2 | $4.99 | 294 94% | 8.8k | $44k (exactly $44,012) | Seal | |
 | Deadliest Pigeon | $6.99 | 99 93% | 3.0k | $21k (exactly $20,760) | Rusty Rex | |
 | Idle Zombie Wave: Premium | $7.99 | 21 38% | 630 | $5.0k (exactly $5,034) | Ryki Studio | |
 | Cat Apocalypse | · EA | $9.99 | 15 93% | 450 | $4.5k (exactly $4,496) | Rocket Regios studios |
 | Doom Survivor: Horde Rush | $2.99 | 38 86% | 1.1k | $3.4k (exactly $3,409) | Crazy Studio | |
 | Hunter Moonstrike : Ai NPCs version | $15.99 | 4 0% | 120 | $1.9k (exactly $1,919) | 10nstudio | |
 | Stickman Zombie Shooting 3D | $2.99 | 21 85% | 630 | $1.9k (exactly $1,884) | Yurii Nikshych | |
 | Horror in the forest | $29.99 | 2 0% | 60 | $1.8k (exactly $1,799) | Static Production |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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