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Should I ship a Zombie Open World Survival Craft?
Open World Survival Craft + Zombies
Of 20 developers who shipped a Zombie Open World Survival Craft 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, ×3.4 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 9 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $22k, ×16 the market's $1.3k for a 9 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $5.4k; 1 in 20 cleared $130M, ×98752 the market median. Revenue is down 95% on the market; 41 games are announced against 12 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $5.4k (exactly $5,395) |
|---|---|
| Median | $22k (exactly $22,115) |
| Top 25% | $543k (exactly $542,728) |
| Top 5% | $133M (exactly $133,018,334) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 20 |
| Released games | 95 |
| Announced | 41 |
| Effort | 9 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Low |
| 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 95% on the market, supply 50% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 4%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is low: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Open World Survival Craft
- effort 9 / 10 · low · dedicated multiplayer servers over a huge content build
- Zombies
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 9 / 10 · studio only
- Systems
- Open World Survival Craft; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Open World, RPG
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 74% positive over 119,749 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $5.4k. 3 in 10 of the 8 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 41 games are announced against 12 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.4 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Open World Survival Craft with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + AutomationFair
- + Co-opPoor odds
- + Online Co-OpPoor odds
- + Immersive SimPoor odds
- + PhysicsPoor odds
- + Colony SimPoor odds
- + MedievalPoor odds
- + ShooterPoor odds
- + PvPPoor odds
- + Sci-fiPoor odds
- + Character CustomizationPoor odds
- + RPGPoor odds
Comparable games
7 Days to Die 2024 · $369M 
The Forest 2018 · $349M 
Dying Light 2015 · $280M 
Project Zomboid 2013 · EA · $274M 
SCUM 2025 · $133M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | 7 Days to Die | older | $44.99 | 273,589 87% | 8.2M | $369M (exactly $369,263,073) | The Fun Pimps |
| | The Forest | older | $19.99 | 581,431 95% | 17M | $349M (exactly $348,684,171) | Endnight Games Ltd |
| | Dying Light | older | $24.99 | 373,413 95% | 11M | $280M (exactly $279,947,726) | Techland |
| | 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 | |
 | Days Gone | older | $39.99 | 82,655 92% | 2.5M | $99M (exactly $99,161,204) | Bend Studio |
 | Miscreated | older | $29.99 | 23,050 66% | 692k | $21M (exactly $20,738,085) | Entrada Interactive LLC |
 | 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 |
 | SurrounDead | · EA older | $11.99 | 24,538 91% | 736k | $8.8M (exactly $8,826,319) | Zurvivor |
 | HumanitZ | $19.99 | 11,155 74% | 335k | $6.7M (exactly $6,689,653) | Yodubzz Studios | |
 | Survive the Nights | $19.99 | 4,719 68% | 142k | $2.8M (exactly $2,829,984) | a2z Interactive | |
 | IfSunSets | · EA | $19.99 | 2,284 74% | 69k | $1.4M (exactly $1,369,715) | POLYMORPH |
 | Bad 2 Bad: Apocalypse | $19.99 | 905 77% | 27k | $543k (exactly $542,728) | DAWINSTONE | |
 | Dustland Delivery | $7.99 | 1,264 88% | 38k | $303k (exactly $302,981) | Neutron Star Studio | |
 | Afterinfection | $8.99 | 463 56% | 14k | $125k (exactly $124,871) | RePatrick21 | |
 | Western Rye | · EA | $21.99 | 104 53% | 3.1k | $69k (exactly $68,609) | Nixalon Studios |
 | PolyZ | · EA | $3.99 | 219 45% | 6.6k | $26k (exactly $26,214) | Thirteen37 Games™ |
 | The Last Disease Z | · EA | $8.99 | 82 54% | 2.5k | $22k (exactly $22,115) | Bublig |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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