Tag pairdata 30 Sep 2026

Zombies + Horror: a typical launch earns $648 in its first year

That is the median of 81 indie paid launches, 2024 Q4 to 2025 Q3. 12 of 136 matured launches earned $100k or more, against 8.8 expected for their price and launch quarter. Releases fell 28% on the year before: 67 against 93.

Big publishers: over 85% from majors or $40+ games

Price: $648
Price vs a year earlier: −48.3%
Releases, 12 months: 67
Upcoming games: 219
Games on the store: 757

Boards

as of 30 Sep 2026

Where this pair stands on each board of the front page. Every value carries its 90% interval and its sample.

Zombies + Horror on each board
Board	Value	Interval	Sample	Standing
Most anticipatedShare of all upcoming wishlist heat on Steam, with the number of upcoming games beside it. One game dominates the figure Listed after unflagged rows on this board	1.83%share of upcoming wishlist heat	0.28% to 3.40%	32 ranked of 219 upcoming gameswishlist rank 30 Sep 2026	#4,054 of 7,193pairs on this board
Launch successLaunches earning $100k or more, against the number expected for their price tier and launch quarter. Big publishers: over 85% from majors or $40+ games	1.27xhits against expected	0.90x to 1.84x	136 launchesindie paid launches 31 Mar 2024 to 1 Apr 2026 (6 to 30 months old)	#1,445 of 6,324pairs on this board
Fewer new releasesFewer launches relative to players. Historically this did not predict better launches.	+112%player demand against new supply, relative to Steam	+53% to +184%	30 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025; releases 30 Sep 2025 to 30 Sep 2026 vs prior 12 months	#5 of 2,361pairs on this board
Rising demandGaining players faster than same-age games. Descriptive, not a launch signal.	+15%review growth against same-age games	0% to +35%	30 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025	#116 of 2,461pairs on this board

Pairs are noisier than genres: the demand boards at pair level are indicative only.

Launch success

launches 6 to 30 months old

Matured indie paid launches that earned an estimated $100k or more, against the number expected for games at the same price tier and launch quarter.

Hits: 12
Expected: 8.8

Launches: 136
Hit rate: 8.8%5.5% to 16.7%
Expected rate: 6.4%
Against expected: 1.27x0.90x to 1.84x

Launch window: indie paid launches 31 Mar 2024 to 1 Apr 2026 (6 to 30 months old). Hit odds are shrunk toward the Steam-wide rate by 3 expected hits.

Revenue spread

136 launches

Estimated lifetime gross of the same matured launches. Half earned less than the median; one in ten earned more than the top figure.

Bottom tenth: $30
Median: $970
Top tenth: $76,200

Estimated from Steam review counts. Lifetime to date, so it differs from the first-year price above.

Supply

raw release counts

Games released with both tags, last 12 months against the 12 before.

Last 12 months: 67
Prior 12 months: 93

Change: −28%
Against Steam: −46%after Steam-wide growth, shrunk by 5 releases

Parent tags

ZombiesNot a genreA theme, mood, feature or presentation tag: never ranked as a market on its own, only inside pairs.
HorrorGenre pageRanked on every board, with its best pairs.

Comparable games

8 indie titles

The biggest indie games in this pair by estimated lifetime gross. Revenue is shown as a number at 50 or more reviews, as a range at 10 to 49, and not at all below 10.

More with Zombies

pairs with Zombies

Zombies + Survival$1,81973 launches priced, 70 releases in 12 months
RPG + Zombies$1,02234 launches priced, 25 releases in 12 months
Zombies + Exploration$99132 launches priced, 36 releases in 12 months
Zombies + Post-apocalyptic$85064 launches priced, 70 releases in 12 months
Strategy + Zombies$48533 launches priced, 42 releases in 12 months
Zombies + Survival Horror$44546 launches priced, 47 releases in 12 months

Every pair with Zombies

More with Horror

pairs with Horror

Horror + Co-op$7,08089 launches priced, 127 releases in 12 months
Horror + Online Co-Op$5,819120 launches priced, 169 releases in 12 months
Horror + Multiplayer$5,680106 launches priced, 172 releases in 12 months
Horror + Lovecraftian$3,41850 launches priced, 72 releases in 12 months
Horror + Roguelike$3,33937 launches priced, 73 releases in 12 months
Horror + Text-Based$2,83130 launches priced, 65 releases in 12 months

Every pair with Horror

Verdicts

in development

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