Infestation: The New Z vs SCUM
Infestation: The New Z is an FPS horror game from Fredaikis AB (2016) while SCUM is an FPS mmorpg game from Gamepires (2025).
What each one is
Steam files Infestation: The New Z under FPS and Horror. In contrast, it files SCUM under FPS and Mmorpg.
The New Z is a FREE TO PLAY multi-game mode experience. SURVIVE with friends and gather loot, stash and trade. Go into wars against other groups in a massive OPEN WORLD or face them 5 v 5 in COMPETITIVE.
Welcome to SCUM, a ruthless open-world survival game where deep character customization defines the prisoner you become. Loot, craft, hunt, build, and fight to outlast a hostile island where every choice can change your fate. Stay alive. Stay dangerous. Become harder to kill.
At a glance
| Infestation: The New Z | SCUM | |
|---|---|---|
| GamingPickz Score | 5.4/10 | 7.0/10 |
| Steam rating | Mixed (54%, 33,887) | Mostly Positive (74%, 126,526) |
| Critic aggregate | No aggregate | No aggregate |
| Price | Free | $44.99 |
| Install size | 10 GB | 80 GB |
| Steam Deck | unsupported | unsupported |
| Released | 2016 | 2025 |
| Developer | Fredaikis AB | Gamepires |
Prices and Steam ratings are read live and move over time.
Infestation: The New Z vs SCUM, point by point
Each facet side by side. A round is marked won only where a figure settles it; feel and "which is better" carry no mark, because no number we hold decides them.
Genre and premise
Infestation: The New ZFPS horror gameSCUMFPS mmorpg gameWhat each is filed as. Each game describes itself in full above; we do not judge a premise.
How it plays
Infestation: The New ZZombies, Free to Play, SurvivalSCUMSurvival, Open World Survival Craft, Open WorldThe tags players apply most, in order of votes. A read on feel, not a verdict.
Reception
Infestation: The New ZScore 5.4 · 54% on SteamSCUM ✓Score 7.0 · 74% on SteamThe GamingPickz Score is a composite of player sentiment, critics and popularity, computed the same way for every game.
Content and scale
Infestation: The New Z33,887 reviews · 10 GBSCUM126,526 reviews · 21 add-ons · 80 GBReach and footprint, not quality: more reviews or a bigger install is not a better game.
Price
Infestation: The New Z ✓FreeSCUM$44.99Read live from Steam and subject to change.
On a Steam Deck
Infestation: The New ZUnsupportedSCUMUnsupportedValve's own Deck compatibility rating.
Across the rounds a number can settle, it is level at 1 each. Which one is "better" is the part no figure decides, so we leave it to what you want from the two.
The two on the grid
Compare the whole catalogueInfestation: The New Z and SCUM on the axes the GamingPickz Score is built from, on the full 0 to 100 scale so each dot is its real position. Change either axis to compare them on any measure.
2 games have both
Players. The share of Steam reviews marked positive, pulled toward the catalogue average in proportion to how few reviews stand behind it. A game with 200 reviews moves a long way toward the average; one with 200,000 barely moves at all. Without this a title sitting at 100 percent on nine reviews outranks Half-Life 2 at 98 percent on 278,000.
Popularity. A blend of two things that are not the same. Audience is how many people wrote a Steam review, which is a floor on how many played it. Reach is how many language editions of Wikipedia document the game, which is cultural footprint rather than sales. A game can score high on one and low on the other: a huge free-to-play title has audience without reach, and a landmark console exclusive has reach without a Steam audience at all. Where both exist they are averaged; where only one does, that one carries it.
- PC
Every point links to that game's entry. The value map and the reception map are fixed views of the same data.
How positions are decided
No paid placement, no favouritism, live third-party data
- Placed by the published method, not by us. Every coordinate is computed from the axis definitions and weights printed on this site. Nobody moves a point. See the axes.
- Nothing here is paid for. No sponsored placements, no promoted slots, no arrangement of any kind affects a position. If that ever changes it will be labelled and sit outside the ranking.
- No favouritism, including our own. The 16 games we have written full reviews of are scored by exactly the same formula as the other 1,510, from the same third-party inputs, and they land where it puts them. Our own opinion of a game does not enter its coordinates.
- A position is not an endorsement. It says how a game was received and what it costs, not that we recommend it. Where we do recommend something, it carries a written review with a name on it.
- Fetched from live third-party data. Player sentiment from Steam, critic aggregates as published on store pages, prices checked hourly, attention from Wikipedia. Each figure carries its source and the date it was read, and we do not adjust any of them.
Which to pick, by what you want
- The higher-rated of the two: SCUM (GamingPickz Score 7.0)
- The cheaper right now: Infestation: The New Z (Free)
- Lighter on storage: Infestation: The New Z (10 GB)
- The safer bet by weight of reviews: SCUM (126,526 reviews)
What they have in common
Both are tagged by Steam players with:
ZombiesSurvivalMultiplayerOpen WorldMassively MultiplayerFPSActionPvP
Where they differ
Free to PlayShooterCo-opSurvival HorrorHorrorThird-Person Shooter
Open World Survival CraftNudityRealisticSingleplayerCraftingEarly Access
Tags players apply to one game and not the other.
Difficulty and who each is for
By the tags players apply, Infestation: The New Z is middle-of-the-road on difficulty. SCUM is middle-of-the-road on difficulty.
System requirements, side by side
| Infestation: The New Z | SCUM | |
|---|---|---|
| Minimum GPU | NVIDIA® GeForce GTX 465 / ATI Radeon TM HD 6870 | NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 3GB / AMD Radeon RX 480 4GB |
| Minimum CPU | AMD® A8 3870 3,6 Ghz | Intel Core i5-4430 / AMD FX-6300 |
| Minimum RAM | 8 GB | 16 GB |
| Install size | 10 GB | 80 GB |
Can your PC run them? Check each against your own kit: Infestation: The New Z · SCUM.
Accessibility features
Steam store pages declare 0 accessibility features for Infestation: The New Z and 5 for SCUM. A declaration is a floor, not a review.
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Common questions
How different are Infestation: The New Z and SCUM in scope?
Infestation: The New Z has drawn 33,887 Steam reviews and installs in 10 GB. SCUM has drawn 126,526 Steam reviews, ships 21 add-ons and installs in 80 GB.
Is Infestation: The New Z or SCUM better?
By the GamingPickz Score, SCUM rates higher (7.0 to 5.4). That is a composite of player sentiment, the critic aggregate and popularity, not our taste. "Better" also depends on price, length and platform, which the table above lays out.
Which is cheaper, Infestation: The New Z or SCUM?
Infestation: The New Z is cheaper right now at Free, against $44.99. Prices move, so this is read live from Steam and can change.
Do you rank one above the other for a fee?
No. Neither game, nor anyone else, pays for placement or a verdict here. The order and every figure come out of the same public data the rest of the site uses.
Related comparisons
How we compare, and what we will not do
The GamingPickz Score is a composite of player sentiment (adjusted for sample size), the critic aggregate and popularity, computed by the same code every ranked list on this site uses. The Steam rating label is Valve's own, reconstructed from the positive percentage and review count. Prices are read live. We do not write an opinion of which game is "better": we report the numbers and say which wins each measurable question above.