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Should I ship a Zombie Perma Death game?
Perma Death + Zombies
Of 55 developers who shipped a Zombie Perma Death 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.. 71 more are announced, ×2.4 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $420, ×0.7 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $150. 71 games are announced against 30 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.4 per shipper, while revenue is up 170% on the market.
| Bottom 30% | $150 (exactly $150) |
|---|---|
| Median | $420 (exactly $420) |
| Top 25% | $2.9k (exactly $2,876) |
| Top 5% | $178k (exactly $177,722) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 55 |
| Released games | 156 |
| Announced | 71 |
| Effort | 5 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $5.99 |
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 170% on the market, supply 20% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 7%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Perma Death
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
- Zombies
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Perma Death; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Survival, Exploration
- Price point
- $5.99 typical · top 25% priced $10.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Pixel Graphics, Retro
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $10.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.
The top 10 games average 88% positive over 10,814 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $150. 8 in 10 of the 28 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 71 games are announced against 30 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.4 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Perma Death with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + LGBTQ+Strong odds
- + Turn-BasedFair
- + Roguelike DeckbuilderFair
- + Creature CollectorFair
- + Mystery DungeonFair
- + PiratesFair
- + Traditional RoguelikeFair
- + Interactive FictionFair
- + Precision PlatformerFair
- + Time ManagementFair
- + Visual NovelFair
- + 3D PlatformerFair
Comparable games
Hunt: Showdown 1896 2019 · $192M 
State of Decay 2: Juggernaut Edition 2020 · $53M 
Into the Dead: Our Darkest Days 2025 · EA · $6.8M 
State of Decay: YOSE 2015 · $6.3M 
The Last Stand: Aftermath 2021 · $4.6M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Hunt: Showdown 1896 | older | $29.99 | 213,023 74% | 6.4M | $192M (exactly $191,656,793) | Crytek |
| | State of Decay 2: Juggernaut Edition | older | $29.99 | 59,156 83% | 1.8M | $53M (exactly $53,222,653) | Undead Labs |
| | Into the Dead: Our Darkest Days | · EA | $24.99 | 9,049 89% | 271k | $6.8M (exactly $6,784,035) | PikPok |
| | State of Decay: YOSE | older | $19.99 | 10,526 82% | 316k | $6.3M (exactly $6,312,442) | Undead Labs |
| | The Last Stand: Aftermath | older | $24.99 | 6,096 80% | 183k | $4.6M (exactly $4,570,171) | Con Artist Games |
 | Dead Estate | older | $14.99 | 5,778 95% | 173k | $2.6M (exactly $2,598,367) | Milkbar Lads |
 | ZOMBI | older | $19.99 | 2,964 64% | 89k | $1.8M (exactly $1,777,511) | Straight Right |
 | Subterrain | older | $16.99 | 1,003 79% | 30k | $511k (exactly $511,229) | Pixellore Inc |
 | Deadly Days | older | $11.99 | 1,388 86% | 42k | $499k (exactly $499,264) | Pixelsplit |
 | The Unliving | older | $16.99 | 762 62% | 23k | $388k (exactly $388,391) | RocketBrush Games |
 | House of Necrosis | $11.99 | 581 94% | 17k | $209k (exactly $208,986) | Warkus | |
 | UNDERWARD | $9.99 | 593 73% | 18k | $178k (exactly $177,722) | INTENSE | |
 | Raining Blood: Hellfire | $7.99 | 198 89% | 5.9k | $47k (exactly $47,461) | TechBooh | |
 | The Left Behind | $10.99 | 116 23% | 3.5k | $38k (exactly $38,245) | Extrude | |
 | My Putrid Ponies | · EA | $4.99 | 165 89% | 5.0k | $25k (exactly $24,700) | Ajolote Dev |
 | Rangedrifter | · EA | $14.99 | 27 100% | 810 | $12k (exactly $12,142) | Max Schmidt |
 | No Time For Pants | $7.99 | 33 84% | 990 | $7.9k (exactly $7,910) | Pixel Push Inc | |
 | Carnival Of Souls | $9.99 | 26 76% | 780 | $7.8k (exactly $7,792) | Tika Studios | |
 | DAWN ONE | $8.99 | 26 76% | 780 | $7.0k (exactly $7,012) | shaderbunny |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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