When 2025 kicked off, SurrounDead, a low-poly, open-world survival game, boasted a peak monthly player count on Steam of just 260 users. It was drawing an average of 126 players in a 30-day window, and since being released in June 2022, it had never escaped a concurrent player count represented by a triple-digit number.
That is, until now.
As I write this, 3,134 people are playing SurrounDead on Steam, and the peak player count in the last 30 days sits at 5,477, which is a remarkable 2000% growth over the peak recorded in January.
But why?
The SurrounDead Story
SurrounDead is one of those low-poly games pieced together by a single developer. It leans on pre-made packs to build and populate a world teeming with wildlife, random events, loot opportunities, and most importantly, bloodthirsty zombies. It was released in 2022, and in the years that followed the game’s launch, the solo developer has kept the title plugged with updates.
On Steam, the review score for SurrounDead is ‘Very Positive’, so it’s not exactly a shining gem of the platform, and after three years on the market, it’s still in early access.
Fans of sandbox zombie titles like DayZ and State of Decay would probably fall in love with SurrounDead, but because it has been assembled by a single developer, it has had no marketing beyond word of mouth.
Leading into June, SurrounDead picked up a new price tag with a 50% discount, which meant many more players than ever before were venturing into the sandbox after parting ways with just $4.99. The bang for the buck is most certainly there, even if (for now) SurrounDead is limited only to a single-player campaign that’s based mostly on open-ended freedom.
Those updates I mentioned are keeping things fresh. The most recent patch, deployed on July 7, introduced hundreds of new zombie spawns in the massive open world, tweaked some of the game’s physics and visuals, and addressed some of the more critical bugs in the game, which is all great stuff for a solo developer.
Is SurrounDead Worth It?
SurrounDead has gone back up to full price, which, as I write this, is $9.99. That’s still not bad, considering you can theoretically get endless entertainment from the game. I’ve put a few hours in and have been pleased with what I’ve experienced, with SurrounDead scratching an itch I always have for open-world zombie survival games.
The low-poly visuals are charming, and it means you can run the game on a potato PC, no problem.
One of the most attractive aspects of SurrounDead is how customisable it is. It’s just like Project Zomboid in that regard, and that’s one of the most popular zombie games on Steam. You can tweak, twist, and alter almost any setting before you enter the game, manipulating the title to reflect a world that’s truly yours.
SurrounDead continues to grow on Steam, and while it’s probably not going to win awards any time soon, it’s great seeing a solo developer hit the nail on the head with sales this long after releasing a game. Steam’s recent Zombies vs. Vampires event helped, and the undying love gamers have for zombie-related titles is also something to consider.
Would you give SurrounDead a try? Let me know on the Insider Gaming forum.
For more Insider Gaming coverage, check out the news about the Nintendo Switch 2 used games ban concern
Grant has been gaming for 30+ years and in the industry for 10+. You'll probably find him playing a post-apocalyptic game or an extraction shooter somewhere.
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