Games › Survival › Survival + Zombies
Should I ship a Zombie Survival game?
Survival + Zombies
Of 441 developers who shipped a Zombie Survival 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.. 707 more are announced, ×3.2 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.2k, ×1.9 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $300; 1 in 20 cleared $410k, ×661 the market median. Revenue is up 80% on the market; 707 games are announced against 223 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $299 (exactly $299) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.2k (exactly $1,198) |
| Top 25% | $7.2k (exactly $7,193) |
| Top 5% | $415k (exactly $414,992) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 441 |
| Released games | 1,601 |
| Announced | 707 |
| Effort | 6 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $6.99 |
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 80% on the market, supply as many developers as the period before.
Free games: 11%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- Survival; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Adventure, Shooter
- Price point
- $6.99 typical · top 25% priced $16.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, First-Person
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $16.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.
The top 10 games average 75% positive over 179,772 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $300. 9 in 10 of the 245 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 707 games are announced against 223 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.2 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Survival with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + FMVStrong odds
- + Social DeductionFair
- + Word GameFair
- + CatsFair
- + CollectathonFair
- + IdlerFair
- + Auto BattlerFair
- + IncrementalFair
- + DogsFair
- + Martial ArtsLong shot
- + Boomer ShooterLong shot
- + DiplomacyPoor odds
Comparable games
DayZ 2018 · $582M 
7 Days to Die 2024 · $369M 
The Forest 2018 · $349M 
Dying Light 2 Stay Human: Reloaded Edition 2022 · $297M 
Dying Light 2015 · $280M | 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 |
| | Dying Light 2 Stay Human: Reloaded Edition | older | $59.99 | 164,914 79% | 4.9M | $297M (exactly $296,795,726) | Techland |
| | Dying Light | older | $24.99 | 373,413 95% | 11M | $280M (exactly $279,947,726) | Techland |
 | Project Zomboid | · EA older | $24.99 | 364,830 94% | 11M | $274M (exactly $273,513,051) | The Indie Stone |
 | Left 4 Dead 2 | older | $9.99 | 816,316 97% | 24M | $245M (exactly $244,649,905) | Valve |
 | Resident Evil 4 | older | $39.99 | 186,701 97% | 5.6M | $224M (exactly $223,985,190) | CAPCOM Co., Ltd. |
 | Resident Evil 2 | older | $39.99 | 156,065 97% | 4.7M | $187M (exactly $187,231,180) | CAPCOM Co., Ltd. |
 | SCUM | $44.99 | 98,554 74% | 3.0M | $133M (exactly $133,018,334) | Gamepires | |
 | No More Room in Hell 2 | $29.99 | 16,725 62% | 502k | $15M (exactly $15,047,482) | Torn Banner Studios | |
 | Diplomacy is Not an Option | $29.99 | 10,904 85% | 327k | $9.8M (exactly $9,810,329) | Door 407 | |
 | 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 | |
 | Yet Another Zombie Survivors | $14.99 | 14,123 91% | 424k | $6.4M (exactly $6,351,113) | Awesome Games Studio | |
 | 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 | |
 | Dread Dawn | $19.99 | 2,113 71% | 63k | $1.3M (exactly $1,267,166) | Kioop |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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