Do I ship it?

Games › Inventory Management › Inventory Management + Zombies

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Zombie Inventory Management game?

Inventory Management + Zombies

Of 68 developers who shipped a Zombie Inventory Management 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.. 115 more are announced, ×2.7 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $2.7k, ×4.3 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $630; 1 in 20 cleared $890k, ×1422 the market median. Revenue is up 2270% on the market; 115 games are announced against 43 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 4.3 times the market baseline, revenue up 2270% on the market, 115 announced, ×2.7 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Inventory Management + Zombies
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 68
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $5.7k → $12k → $5.0k → $1.4k → $599 → $5.1k → $19k (still earning) → $5.6k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Inventory Management + Zombies: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 68
Bottom 30% $629 (exactly $629)
Median $2.7k (exactly $2,697)
Top 25% $28k (exactly $27,891)
Top 5% $893k (exactly $893,157)
Developers, 2 yr 68
Released games 148
Announced 115
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 up 2270% on the market, supply 70% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 8%, 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.

Inventory Management
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high 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
5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
Systems
Inventory Management; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Adventure, Survival Horror
Price point
$8.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Atmospheric, Dark
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $8.99.

The top 10 games average 93% positive over 120,807 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $630, median $2.7k, 1 in 4 over $27k, 1 in 20 over $890k.

3 in 10 developers made under $630. 9 in 10 of the 25 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 115 games are announced against 43 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.7 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + Job SimulatorStrong odds69 devs · median $15k · 62 announced
  2. + LGBTQ+Fair10 devs · median $17k · 13 announced
  3. + Roguelike DeckbuilderFair43 devs · median $12k · 47 announced
  4. + Artificial IntelligenceFair34 devs · median $11k · 44 announced
  5. + WargameFair21 devs · median $4.6k · 20 announced
  6. + Time ManagementFair181 devs · median $2.9k · 228 announced
  7. + DeckbuildingFair98 devs · median $2.5k · 137 announced
  8. + LogicFair70 devs · median $1.7k · 74 announced
  9. + Card GameFair65 devs · median $1.6k · 86 announced
  10. + Trading Card GameFair21 devs · median $1.5k · 28 announced
  11. + Puzzle PlatformerFair20 devs · median $1.1k · 26 announced
  12. + God GameFair16 devs · median $1.1k · 15 announced

All 164 pairs on the Inventory Management page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Resident Evil Requiem 2026 · $225M Resident Evil 4 (2005) 2014 · $47M Daymare: 1998 2019 · $3.1M Survive the Nights 2025 · $2.8M Deadly Days: Roadtrip 2025 · EA · $1.3M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Resident Evil Requiem $69.99 106,931 95% 3.2M $225M (exactly $224,523,021) CAPCOM Co., Ltd.
Resident Evil 4 (2005) older $19.99 78,502 94% 2.4M $47M (exactly $47,077,649) Capcom
Daymare: 1998 older $29.99 3,445 69% 103k $3.1M (exactly $3,099,466) Invader Studios
Survive the Nights $19.99 4,719 68% 142k $2.8M (exactly $2,829,984) a2z Interactive
Deadly Days: Roadtrip · EA $14.99 2,855 87% 86k $1.3M (exactly $1,283,894) Pixelsplit
Haydee 2 older $24.99 1,649 87% 49k $1.2M (exactly $1,236,255) Haydee Interactive
Survival Log $10.99 2,709 82% 81k $893k (exactly $893,157) Midnight Workshop
Echoes of the Living · EA $24.99 1,005 83% 30k $753k (exactly $753,448) MoonGlint Studio
Night Raider older $5.99 1,908 85% 57k $343k (exactly $342,868) TSUKUYOMIC
Blood Typers $12.49 912 94% 27k $342k (exactly $341,726) Outer Brain Studios
Iron Blight $12.49 700 93% 21k $262k (exactly $262,290) Ronesans Interactive
Post Trauma $14.99 574 72% 17k $258k (exactly $258,128) RED SOUL GAMES
The Dead Thread $29.99 100 74% 3.0k $90k (exactly $89,970) JSK Games
Soulforge Lost Path $8.99 302 69% 9.1k $81k (exactly $81,449) Ziyue

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