Do I ship it?

GamesInteractive FictionInteractive Fiction + Zombies

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Zombie Interactive Fiction?

Interactive Fiction + Zombies

Of 46 developers who shipped a Zombie Interactive Fiction 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.. 41 more are announced.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $360, ×0.6 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $50. Revenue is down 65% on the market, with 41 games announced against 27 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 0.6 times the market baseline, revenue down 65% on the market, 41 announced, ×1.5 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Interactive Fiction + Zombies
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 46
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $1.5k → $3.4k → $1.8k → $300 → $358 → $0 (still earning) → $24k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Interactive Fiction + Zombies: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 46
Bottom 30% $0 (exactly $0)
Median $358 (exactly $358)
Top 25% $4.0k (exactly $3,950)
Top 5% $24k (exactly $23,802)
Developers, 2 yr 46
Released games 103
Announced 41
Effort 5 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $8.99

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 65% on the market, supply 40% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 9%, 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.

Interactive Fiction
effort 1 / 10 · high · prose plus a state machine
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
5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
Systems
Interactive Fiction; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry RPG, Visual Novel, Adventure
Price point
$8.99 typical · top 25% priced $17.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Story Rich, 2D, 3D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $17.99 or above; the middle game at $8.99.

The top 10 games average 90% positive over 3,557 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $50, median $360, 1 in 4 over $3.9k, 1 in 20 over $23k.

3 in 10 developers made under $50. Nearly all of the 25 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 41 games are announced against 27 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + FMVFair164 devs · median $36k · 162 announced
  2. + Match 3Fair12 devs · median $4.8k · 7 announced
  3. + VampiresFair41 devs · median $1.8k · 52 announced
  4. + SportsFair19 devs · median $1.5k · 19 announced
  5. + IncrementalFair160 devs · median $1.4k · 144 announced
  6. + PiratesFair7 devs · median $1.3k · 7 announced
  7. + DrivingFair12 devs · median $1.2k · 13 announced
  8. + DiplomacyFair12 devs · median $1.0k · 17 announced
  9. + Perma DeathFair27 devs · median $959 · 28 announced
  10. + Board GameFair9 devs · median $657 · 12 announced
  11. + SnowFair10 devs · median $478 · 12 announced
  12. + BuildingFair17 devs · median $449 · 20 announced

All 169 pairs on the Interactive Fiction page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
The Walking Dead: The Telltale Definitive Series older $49.99 36,594 96% 1.1M $55M (exactly $54,880,022) Skybound Games
SubZero $9.99 2,719 92% 82k $815k (exactly $814,884) Joy Media Limited
Serum: Toxic Survival · EA older $24.99 253 45% 7.6k $190k (exactly $189,674) Game Island
Zombie Exodus older $19.99 166 84% 5.0k $100k (exactly $99,550) Hosted Games
Survivor's Notes $6.99 352 91% 11k $74k (exactly $73,814) MYSTERY CROWN, YESPLAY
Purrfect Apawcalypse: Purrgatory Furever older $5.99 370 99% 11k $66k (exactly $66,489) Denny Truong, Andy Schneider
Gloomy Eyes VR older $8.99 186 88% 5.6k $50k (exactly $50,164) 3DAR, Atlas V
Scheming Through The Zombie Apocalypse: The Beginning older $4.99 322 84% 9.7k $48k (exactly $48,203) Entertainment Forge
I Walk Among Zombies Vol. 0 older $8.99 147 86% 4.4k $40k (exactly $39,646) Seacoxx
Eden's Ritter 1:2 - Priestess of Pleasure older $19.99 56 89% 1.7k $34k (exactly $33,583) Waffle
Apocalypse: The Last RV · EA $4.99 159 68% 4.8k $24k (exactly $23,802) 光年切片工作室
Sex Vault: The Lust-Tec Project $9.99 79 83% 2.4k $24k (exactly $23,676) Kinky Business Group
Sword Mistress of the Dungeon Town $17.99 38 65% 1.1k $21k (exactly $20,509) ラブリープリチー超愛してる, Lovely Pretty Ultra Lov… (ラブリープリチー超愛してる, Lovely Pretty Ultra Loving You)
翎之歌 $6.99 83 89% 2.5k $17k (exactly $17,405) YuKi制作组, 崩溃猛犸
Outlying Islands $8.99 64 92% 1.9k $17k (exactly $17,261) 九指画尸, 线娘
Giggle Night: Trixie's Trial · EA $19.99 16 81% 480 $9.6k (exactly $9,595) Anaximanes Entertainment
69 Seconds Later $19.99 14 85% 420 $8.4k (exactly $8,396) SinVR
Terror Call $4.99 33 69% 990 $4.9k (exactly $4,940) Solozard Games

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