Do I ship it?

Games › Physics › Physics + Zombies

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Zombie Physics game?

Physics + Zombies

Of 62 developers who shipped a Zombie Physics 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.. 95 more are announced, ×2.6 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $540, ×0.9 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $90; 1 in 20 cleared $170k, ×276 the market median. Revenue is down 65% on the market; 95 games are announced against 36 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 0.9 times the market baseline, revenue down 65% on the market, 95 announced, ×2.6 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Physics + Zombies
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 62
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $2.9k → $11k → $5.4k → $1.0k → $1.9k → $539 → $180 (still earning) → $299 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Physics + Zombies: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 62
Bottom 30% $90 (exactly $90)
Median $539 (exactly $539)
Top 25% $3.1k (exactly $3,144)
Top 5% $173k (exactly $173,313)
Developers, 2 yr 62
Released games 184
Announced 95
Effort 5 / 10
AI-buildability Low
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 down 65% on the market, supply 40% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 10%, 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 low: the lowest rating among its tags.

Physics
effort 5 / 10 · low · emergent simulation bugs need hands-on tuning
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
Physics; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Adventure, Shooter
Price point
$5.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
Art
5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with First-Person, 3D, Realistic
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.

The top 10 games average 85% positive over 5,390 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $90, median $540, 1 in 4 over $3.1k, 1 in 20 over $170k.

3 in 10 developers made under $90. 8 in 10 of the 29 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 95 games are announced against 36 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.6 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + Roguelike DeckbuilderStrong odds31 devs · median $8.1k · 30 announced
  2. + Dating SimFair28 devs · median $5.9k · 20 announced
  3. + PinballFair62 devs · median $2.5k · 80 announced
  4. + World War IIFair11 devs · median $1.4k · 16 announced
  5. + Mini GolfFair40 devs · median $1.2k · 44 announced
  6. + GolfFair55 devs · median $987 · 59 announced
  7. + CollectathonFair179 devs · median $718 · 230 announced
  8. + IdlerFair142 devs · median $718 · 167 announced
  9. + Hidden ObjectFair162 devs · median $600 · 157 announced
  10. + CatsFair76 devs · median $599 · 101 announced
  11. + Mystery DungeonFair22 devs · median $539 · 20 announced
  12. + BilliardsFair36 devs · median $538 · 32 announced

All 251 pairs on the Physics page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Half-Life 2 2004 · $61M Bodycam 2024 · EA · $60M Brick Rigs 2023 · $32M Hellsplit: Arena 2019 · $2.8M Arizona Sunshine® VR 2 2023 · $2.0M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Half-Life 2 older $9.99 202,782 97% 6.1M $61M (exactly $60,773,765) Valve
Bodycam · EA older $33.32 60,179 80% 1.8M $60M (exactly $60,154,928) Reissad Studio
Brick Rigs older $19.99 53,749 95% 1.6M $32M (exactly $32,233,275) Fluppisoft GmbH
Hellsplit: Arena older $24.99 3,735 83% 112k $2.8M (exactly $2,800,130) Deep Type Games
Arizona Sunshine® VR 2 older $29.99 2,258 84% 68k $2.0M (exactly $2,031,523) Vertigo Games
Ancient Warfare 3 older $12.99 2,659 95% 80k $1.0M (exactly $1,036,212) JNI Games
The Walking Trade $11.99 2,733 86% 82k $983k (exactly $983,060) Microwave Games
Arizona Sunshine® VR Remake $19.99 1,203 88% 36k $721k (exactly $721,439) Vertigo Games
Earn to Die 2 older $4.99 2,238 93% 67k $335k (exactly $335,029) Toffee Games
Zero Caliber 2 Remastered $24.99 433 79% 13k $325k (exactly $324,620) XREAL Games
The Living Remain $19.99 289 79% 8.7k $173k (exactly $173,313) Five Finger Studios
Pirates VR: Jolly Roger $19.99 212 76% 6.4k $127k (exactly $127,136) Split Light Studio
Nightmare Drive · EA $14.99 156 78% 4.7k $70k (exactly $70,153) Voidfiller
Deadliest Pigeon $6.99 99 93% 3.0k $21k (exactly $20,760) Rusty Rex
Finnish Cabin Mayhem - Mökkimähinä $4.99 129 94% 3.9k $19k (exactly $19,311) Sophisticated keppana enjoyers
Sitting Ducks $7.99 75 86% 2.3k $18k (exactly $17,978) The Gang Studio
Death Horizon: Cyberfusion $7.99 61 67% 1.8k $15k (exactly $14,622) Horizon Lab

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