Do I ship it?

Games › Runner › Runner + Zombies

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Zombie Runner?

Runner + Zombies

Only 14 developers shipped a Zombie Runner in the last 2 years, too few for firm odds: the middle one made est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.; the top game by est. revenue, Strange Brew, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 12 more are announced, ×2.4 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: dead, for a 5 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $450 in the last 2 years and $300 over 4, against a market of $630 for a 5 / 10 build. 5 developers shipped in the last year and 12 games are announced.

Deciding numbers: median 0.7 times the market baseline, revenue up 1250% on the market, 12 announced, ×2.4 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Runner + Zombies
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 14
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $30 → $90 → $60 → $269 → $449
Outcomes for Runner + Zombies: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 14
Bottom 30% $269 (exactly $269)
Median $449 (exactly $449)
Top 25% $2.7k (exactly $2,696)
Top 5% $11k (exactly $10,793)
Developers, 2 yr 14
Released games 56
Announced 12
Effort 5 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $4.99

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 1250% on the market, supply 45% fewer developers than the period before.

Free games: 11%, 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.

Runner
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
Runner
Price point
$4.99 typical
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 10 games average 78% positive over 145 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $270, median $450, 1 in 4 over $2.6k, 1 in 20 over $10k.

3 in 10 developers made under $270. 9 in 10 of the 11 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 12 games are announced against 5 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.4 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + LootFair8 devs · median $1.6k · 10 announced
  2. + Local MultiplayerFair23 devs · median $1.3k · 30 announced
  3. + PsychologicalFair14 devs · median $839 · 12 announced
  4. + IdlerFair16 devs · median $838 · 8 announced
  5. + Visual NovelFair12 devs · median $750 · 11 announced
  6. + Time AttackFair15 devs · median $599 · 10 announced
  7. + FPSLong shot39 devs · median $958 · 43 announced
  8. + 4 Player LocalPoor odds12 devs · median $2.4k · 16 announced
  9. + MusicPoor odds16 devs · median $1.2k · 20 announced
  10. + Co-opPoor odds38 devs · median $1.0k · 64 announced
  11. + Online Co-OpPoor odds40 devs · median $898 · 64 announced
  12. + Interactive FictionPoor odds10 devs · median $839 · 16 announced

All 123 pairs on the Runner page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Dead Island Retro Revenge 2016 · $89k Sex Apocalypse 2 2023 · $58k Corridor Z 2018 · $48k Zombie Simulator 2021 · $15k Strange Brew 2026 · $11k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Dead Island Retro Revenge older $4.99 592 62% 18k $89k (exactly $88,622) Empty Clip Studios
Sex Apocalypse 2 older $9.99 195 55% 5.9k $58k (exactly $58,442) Octo Games
Corridor Z older $7.99 201 85% 6.0k $48k (exactly $48,180) Mass Creation
Zombie Simulator older $4.99 100 81% 3.0k $15k (exactly $14,970) ZHANG FAN
Strange Brew $14.99 24 100% 720 $11k (exactly $10,793) Electric Monk Media
Return Of The Zombie King older $4.99 63 71% 1.9k $9.4k (exactly $9,431) Return To Adventure Mountain, LLC
Only Out $4.99 40 95% 1.2k $6.0k (exactly $5,988) Shark Studio
Lab Inspect older $4.99 37 86% 1.1k $5.5k (exactly $5,539) 8BITLAB
Escape from Nowhere older $9.99 12 83% 360 $3.6k (exactly $3,596) PancakeGames
Jenny Love You $4.99 23 69% 690 $3.4k (exactly $3,443) Phantom Pixel
Meowmories $5.99 15 60% 450 $2.7k (exactly $2,696) Team Memolink
Money Theft $4.99 13 76% 390 $1.9k (exactly $1,946) Valkeala Software, Tero Lunkka
UNDERGROUND $1.99 17 58% 510 $1.0k (exactly $1,015) UncleScrooge
Ghost VCD $2.99 5 60% 150 $449 (exactly $449) Qing Ping
The Night of Escape $3.99 3 0% 90 $359 (exactly $359) LiTang
Dead Bit $4.99 2 50% 60 $299 (exactly $299) escape2echo
Alpha Runner 2 $2.99 3 66% 90 $269 (exactly $269) Lightsoutgames

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