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Should I ship a Zombie Tactical game?
Tactical + Zombies
Of 84 developers who shipped a Zombie Tactical 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.. 140 more are announced, ×2.9 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $540, ×0.9 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $150; 1 in 20 cleared $190k, ×313 the market median. Revenue is down 35% on the market; 140 games are announced against 48 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $150 (exactly $150) |
|---|---|
| Median | $540 (exactly $540) |
| Top 25% | $6.5k (exactly $6,472) |
| Top 5% | $196k (exactly $196,409) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 84 |
| Released games | 267 |
| Announced | 140 |
| Effort | 6 / 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 35% on the market, supply 35% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 10%, 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
- Tactical; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Strategy, Action, Survival
- Price point
- $7.99 typical · top 25% priced $17.99 or above
- Art
- 3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, 2D, Pixel Graphics
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $17.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.
The top 10 games average 83% positive over 16,523 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $150. 9 in 10 of the 44 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 140 games are announced against 48 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.9 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Tactical with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Football (American)Strong odds
- + Mystery DungeonStrong odds
- + Dating SimFair
- + 6DOFFair
- + Word GameFair
- + TypingFair
- + DwarvesFair
- + Traditional RoguelikeFair
- + Dynamic NarrationFair
- + Farming SimFair
- + SolitaireFair
- + LGBTQ+Fair
Comparable games
Left 4 Dead 2 2009 · $245M 
Hunt: Showdown 1896 2019 · $192M 
Call of Duty®: Modern Warfare® 2023 · $78M 
Bodycam 2024 · EA · $60M 
GTFO 2021 · $55M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Left 4 Dead 2 | older | $9.99 | 816,316 97% | 24M | $245M (exactly $244,649,905) | Valve |
| | Hunt: Showdown 1896 | older | $29.99 | 213,023 74% | 6.4M | $192M (exactly $191,656,793) | Crytek |
| | Call of Duty®: Modern Warfare® | older | $59.99 | 43,229 79% | 1.3M | $78M (exactly $77,799,231) | Infinity Ward, Beenox, High Moon Studio… (Infinity Ward, Beenox, High Moon Studios, Raven Software) |
| | Bodycam | · EA older | $33.32 | 60,179 80% | 1.8M | $60M (exactly $60,154,928) | Reissad Studio |
| | GTFO | older | $39.99 | 46,184 86% | 1.4M | $55M (exactly $55,406,945) | 10 Chambers |
 | They Are Billions | older | $29.99 | 46,223 85% | 1.4M | $42M (exactly $41,586,833) | Numantian Games |
 | Call of Duty®: Black Ops Cold War | older | $59.99 | 21,955 79% | 659k | $40M (exactly $39,512,414) | Treyarch, Raven Software, High Moon Stu… (Treyarch, Raven Software, High Moon Studios, Beenox, Activision Shanghai, Sledgehammer Games) |
 | Plague Inc: Evolved | older | $14.99 | 59,205 94% | 1.8M | $27M (exactly $26,624,488) | Ndemic Creations |
 | Plants vs. Zombies GOTY Edition | older | $4.99 | 143,506 97% | 4.3M | $21M (exactly $21,482,848) | PopCap Games, Inc. |
 | Left 4 Dead | older | $9.99 | 58,218 96% | 1.7M | $17M (exactly $17,447,935) | Valve |
 | Diplomacy is Not an Option | $29.99 | 10,904 85% | 327k | $9.8M (exactly $9,810,329) | Door 407 | |
 | Urban Strife | $34.99 | 653 69% | 20k | $685k (exactly $685,454) | White Pond Games | |
 | Whisper Mountain Outbreak | · EA | $7.99 | 2,421 84% | 73k | $580k (exactly $580,314) | Toge Productions |
 | Vultures - Scavengers of Death | $17.99 | 532 81% | 16k | $287k (exactly $287,120) | Team Vultures | |
 | Dead Grid | $12.99 | 504 93% | 15k | $196k (exactly $196,409) | Atom Void | |
 | Ultimate Zombie Defense 2 | $9.99 | 589 76% | 18k | $177k (exactly $176,523) | Terror Dog Studio | |
 | MEMOLITH: Forsaken by Light | $19.99 | 220 76% | 6.6k | $132k (exactly $131,934) | Black Anchor | |
 | Dying Breed | · EA | $17.99 | 218 71% | 6.5k | $118k (exactly $117,655) | Sarnayer |
 | Dead Season | $19.99 | 182 69% | 5.5k | $109k (exactly $109,145) | Snail Bite | |
 | City Defense Z | $9.99 | 300 74% | 9.0k | $90k (exactly $89,910) | Good Mood Games |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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