Summary

  • Despite being released in 2022, the zombie survival title SurrounDead recently hit its peak concurrent player count on Steam.
  • SurrounDead hit an all-time player count peak of 4,151 simultaneous players on June 1, 2025.
  • A recent resurgence of interest in zombie media is likely prompting more players to give the game a try.

SurrounDead is finally having its moment on Steam, smashing its old peak player count nearly three years after its release. The early access survival title first came out in 2022 but never seemed to draw a big crowd, which can be difficult in the crowded zombie game market. It seems the dog days are finally over, though, as Steam users are suddenly flocking to SurrounDead to try it for themselves.

The premise behind SurrounDead is a familiar one, placing players in a post-apocalyptic world with minimal resources to see how long they can survive both zombie hordes and human enemies. As games like Days Gone Remastered and Dying Light: The Beast ignite a zombie game renaissance, the genre is surging back into popularity, giving once-overlooked titles a chance to experience the limelight. It seems SurrounDead has benefited particularly well from the resurgence.

dying light on left, project zomboid in center and days gone on right
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According to charts on SteamDB, SurrounDead hit an all-time player count peak of 4,151 simultaneous players on June 1. While the game has been available since mid-2022, it never passed the 2,000-player mark until this year. Things started to change between March and April before the player count skyrocketed in May to reach its current point. It could be that players are itching for a new zombie experience while waiting to see if State of Decay 3 has news in store this summer or that Steam's Zombie vs. Vampires Fest convinced people to grab it on sale. Whatever the reason, it's a big moment for SurrounDead​​​​​​.

SurrounDead Hits New Player Count Peak Three Years After Release

Zombie media was everywhere in the 2010s, thanks to the massive popularity of The Walking Dead on TV and games like The Last of Us, DayZ, and Dead Island, though the craze eventually died down. Now it seems to be coming back to life, and it's not just the well-established franchises from AAA studios that are benefiting from it. While not every recent zombie release has had a warm reception, with Darkest Days getting review-bombed after a disappointing open beta, others, like SurrounDead, have ridden the wave into growing popularity.

SurrounDead is still in early access, though it's unclear if the recent influx of players will help push things along. Still, it's a good time for the studio behind it and an even better time to be a zombie fan. There are plenty of upcoming zombie games like Killing Floor 3 to look forward to in 2025, and more indie gems like SurrounDead to discover.

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SurrounDead Tag Page Cover Art

SurrounDead
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Zombie
Survival
Open-World
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Systems
PC-1
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Developer(s)
Zurvivor
Publisher(s)
PlaySurrounDead
Engine
Unreal Engine 5
Early Access Release
June 24, 2022
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SurrounDead setting
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SurrounDead camp
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WHERE TO PLAY

DIGITAL
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Genre(s)
Zombie, Survival, Open-World