Bohemia Interactive’s multiplayer zombie game DayZ helped kick off a new wave of survival-focused competitive games when it initially entered Steam’s Early Access program nearly four years ago, but the game never officially progressed beyond that stage — until now.
In a new blog post, Bohemia Interactive lead producer Eugen Harton revealed that the “1.0” build of DayZ is scheduled to arrive in 2018. In the meantime, new updates will continue to add features including additional zombies, animals, a new economy, new crafting options, and revamped melee and ranged combat. The maps will also be updated, a new animation system is being added, and Bohemia promised the entire experience will run significantly more smoothly.
Prior to the game’s official launch, it will progress from the “alpha” stage to “beta,” and a few other features will be added during this time, as well. Helicopters and base building will also be coming, which should add new strategy to a game players have already become familiar with.
“DayZ beta is not meant to be a feature-complete game from our point of view,” Harton continued. “It’s a start of a platform that will be extended by us, and can be extended by the modding community.”
DayZ was announced for Xbox One during E3 2015, but relatively little has been heard about that version since. It is, however, still in development. The game is also planned for a full release on the console in 2018, though this will be “as soon as the PC beta is head in a way [Bohemia developers] like.” A PlayStation 4 version was also previously announced, though no update was given on its status.
The game will have stiff competition from PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, a multiplayer phenomenon that releases as an Xbox One console exclusive on December 12. Ironically, the game initially began as a mod project for designer Brendan Greene for DayZ when it existed as a mod for Arma 2.
“2018 is going to be an important year for us in the studio, and our long-term work finally makes its way out there,” Harton added. “We sure take our time, but I believe that people only remember great games, and not how long it took to make them.”
