Do I ship it?

Games › Sandbox › Sandbox + Zombies

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Zombie Sandbox?

Sandbox + Zombies

Of 85 developers who shipped a Zombie Sandbox 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.. 173 more are announced, ×3.3 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $4.4k, ×7.0 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $720; 1 in 20 cleared $4.4M, ×7095 the market median. Revenue is up 30% on the market; 173 games are announced against 53 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 7.0 times the market baseline, revenue up 30% on the market, 173 announced, ×3.3 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Sandbox + Zombies
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 85
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $10k → $4.3k → $16k → $4.4k → $49k → $8.8k → $4.5k (still earning) → $1.2k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Sandbox + Zombies: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 85
Bottom 30% $719 (exactly $719)
Median $4.4k (exactly $4,404)
Top 25% $70k (exactly $70,153)
Top 5% $4.5M (exactly $4,455,609)
Developers, 2 yr 85
Released games 309
Announced 173
Effort 6 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
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 up 30% on the market, supply 65% more 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.

Sandbox
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium 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
6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
Systems
Sandbox; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Survival, Action, Base Building
Price point
$9.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with First-Person
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.

The top 10 games average 76% positive over 159,274 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $720, median $4.4k, 1 in 4 over $70k, 1 in 20 over $4.4M.

3 in 10 developers made under $720. 7 in 10 of the 37 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 173 games are announced against 53 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.3 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + FightingStrong odds11 devs · median $76k · 8 announced
  2. + Turn-BasedFair20 devs · median $224k · 19 announced
  3. + World War IIFair14 devs · median $146k · 13 announced
  4. + MinigamesFair9 devs · median $17k · 12 announced
  5. + ProgrammingFair60 devs · median $7.0k · 71 announced
  6. + CatsFair63 devs · median $4.8k · 74 announced
  7. + SportsFair83 devs · median $4.2k · 103 announced
  8. + GamblingFair25 devs · median $2.5k · 31 announced
  9. + Auto BattlerFair45 devs · median $1.9k · 42 announced
  10. + Combat RacingFair21 devs · median $1.8k · 26 announced
  11. + Trading Card GameFair17 devs · median $1.8k · 17 announced
  12. + IdlerFair258 devs · median $1.2k · 306 announced

All 233 pairs on the Sandbox page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

DayZ 2018 · $582M 7 Days to Die 2024 · $369M The Forest 2018 · $349M Project Zomboid 2013 · EA · $274M SCUM 2025 · $133M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
DayZ older $49.99 387,850 78% 12M $582M (exactly $581,658,645) Bohemia Interactive
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
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
State of Decay 2: Juggernaut Edition older $29.99 59,156 83% 1.8M $53M (exactly $53,222,653) Undead Labs
Brick Rigs older $19.99 53,749 95% 1.6M $32M (exactly $32,233,275) Fluppisoft GmbH
Plague Inc: Evolved older $14.99 59,205 94% 1.8M $27M (exactly $26,624,488) Ndemic Creations
Miscreated older $29.99 23,050 66% 692k $21M (exactly $20,738,085) Entrada Interactive LLC
Saints Row: The Third older $9.99 48,877 95% 1.5M $15M (exactly $14,648,437) Volition
Tower Unite $19.99 16,237 89% 487k $9.7M (exactly $9,737,329) PixelTail Games
VEIN · EA $19.99 11,539 87% 346k $6.9M (exactly $6,919,938) Ramjet Studios
HumanitZ $19.99 11,155 74% 335k $6.7M (exactly $6,689,653) Yodubzz Studios
Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster $49.99 2,971 80% 89k $4.5M (exactly $4,455,609) CAPCOM Co., Ltd.
No One Survived $16.99 6,969 64% 209k $3.6M (exactly $3,552,099) Cat Play Studio
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
Dread Dawn $19.99 2,113 71% 63k $1.3M (exactly $1,267,166) Kioop
The Walking Trade $11.99 2,733 86% 82k $983k (exactly $983,060) Microwave Games

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