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Should I ship a Zombie Procedural Generation game?
Procedural Generation + Zombies
Of 53 developers who shipped a Zombie Procedural Generation 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.. 104 more are announced, ×3.3 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.3k, ×2.1 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $180; 1 in 20 cleared $360k, ×586 the market median. Revenue is down 80% on the market; 104 games are announced against 32 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $179 (exactly $179) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.3k (exactly $1,317) |
| Top 25% | $7.9k (exactly $7,910) |
| Top 5% | $368k (exactly $368,103) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 53 |
| Released games | 172 |
| Announced | 104 |
| Effort | 5 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $7.99 |
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 80% on the market, supply 50% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 6%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Procedural Generation
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium 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
- Procedural Generation; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Action Roguelike, Roguelike
- Price point
- $7.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Atmospheric
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.
The top 10 games average 77% positive over 6,233 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $180. 7 in 10 of the 21 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 104 games are announced against 32 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.3 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Procedural Generation with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + SnowFair
- + Traditional RoguelikeFair
- + DetectiveFair
- + Word GameFair
- + TypingFair
- + IdlerFair
- + LogicFair
- + Walking SimulatorFair
- + Precision PlatformerFair
- + Hidden ObjectFair
- + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds
- + TrainsPoor odds
Comparable games
7 Days to Die 2024 · $369M 
The Last Stand: Aftermath 2021 · $4.6M 
Door Kickers: Action Squad 2018 · $3.7M 
Dead Estate 2021 · $2.6M 
Dead Age 2016 · $2.0M | 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 Last Stand: Aftermath | older | $24.99 | 6,096 80% | 183k | $4.6M (exactly $4,570,171) | Con Artist Games |
| | Door Kickers: Action Squad | older | $13.99 | 8,778 95% | 263k | $3.7M (exactly $3,684,127) | PixelShard, KillHouse Games |
| | Dead Estate | older | $14.99 | 5,778 95% | 173k | $2.6M (exactly $2,598,367) | Milkbar Lads |
| | Dead Age | older | $14.99 | 4,407 83% | 132k | $2.0M (exactly $1,981,828) | Silent Dreams |
 | Space Pirates And Zombies 2 | older | $19.99 | 2,734 78% | 82k | $1.6M (exactly $1,639,580) | MinMax Games Ltd. |
 | Red Solstice 2: Survivors | older | $14.99 | 2,585 70% | 78k | $1.2M (exactly $1,162,474) | Ironward |
 | Zelter | · EA older | $19.99 | 1,734 47% | 52k | $1.0M (exactly $1,039,880) | G1 Playground |
 | KeeperRL | older | $19.99 | 1,677 83% | 50k | $1.0M (exactly $1,005,697) | Electric Succubi |
 | Pathway | older | $15.99 | 1,908 76% | 57k | $915k (exactly $915,268) | Robotality |
 | FatalZone | $6.99 | 2,125 66% | 64k | $446k (exactly $445,612) | Midhard Games | |
 | Human Host | · EA | $16.88 | 866 83% | 26k | $439k (exactly $438,542) | Virtual Matrix Studio |
 | Darfall | $24.99 | 491 71% | 15k | $368k (exactly $368,103) | SquareNite | |
 | Blood Typers | $12.49 | 912 94% | 27k | $342k (exactly $341,726) | Outer Brain Studios | |
 | UNDERWARD | $9.99 | 593 73% | 18k | $178k (exactly $177,722) | INTENSE | |
 | C.A.S.T. (CHERNOZEM ANOMALY STRIKE TEAM) | $6.99 | 777 87% | 23k | $163k (exactly $162,937) | BRAIN DOES (NOT) WORK | |
 | Graveyard Gunslingers | $7.99 | 224 58% | 6.7k | $54k (exactly $53,693) | PyroPhysics | |
 | Zombiehood | $9.99 | 132 86% | 4.0k | $40k (exactly $39,560) | Weak Spots, Dead Traveler | |
 | The Realm of Reincarnation | · EA | $9.99 | 84 78% | 2.5k | $25k (exactly $25,175) | lvhanjian, fengshuyun |
 | Lethal Honor - Order of the Apocalypse | $24.99 | 29 96% | 870 | $22k (exactly $21,741) | Viral Studios |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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