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Early Access zombie survival hit DayZ tops 3 million sales
Publisher Bohemia Interactive has revealed that DayZ, the cult-hit, open-world zombie survival game, has attracted more than three million sales since its debut on Steam's Early Access platform. DayZ arrives at this milestone only a year after reaching Early Access. Despite pragmatic warnings from DayZ creator Dean "Rocket" Hall that the Early Access version of DayZ is incomplete, the game was an immediate hit, selling over a million copies in its first month, owing largely to the cult following it attracted in its original incarnation: a modification for Bohemia's ArmA 2 first-person military sim. "We would like to say thank you to every single one of the three million players, that have joined us on the journey of making DayZ," writes project lead David Durcak. "You all have helped make DayZ the best open world, zombie survival game. This is an amazing achievement, and we are really looking forward to start sharing with you all of our game design improvements, anti-hack solutions and other optimizations we have been working on for a majority of the last year." [Image: Bohemia Interactive]
DayZ has sold over 3 million early access copies
DayZ has been on Steam early access for over a year now, and what does the post-apocalyptic zombie sandbox have to show for it? Well, over 3 million customers, for starters. A new Bohemia Interactive press release touts the 24 updates the game has seen since its "launch," and it also mentions ongoing improvements including a core engine rewrite begun in 2014. The new engine is called Enfusion, and it includes renderer upgrades and corresponding performance upticks as well as "vastly improved" particle effect aesthetics. Bohemia also notes that the DayZ dev team now boasts over 80 people. [Source: Bohemia Interactive press release]
The War Z dev: 'We were arrogantly deaf to problems'
They may not be slavering corpses, but the developers of The War Z share one thing in common with the undead denizens of their game: Persistence. Despite seemingly endless controversy, the open-world zombie survival game has reportedly passed 2.8 million sales. From the beginning, players accused The War Z (aka Infestation: Survivor Stories) of liberally borrowing ideas from Bohemia Interactive's cult-hit DayZ, including its setting and basic "survive against endless hordes of corpses" gameplay. Then The War Z reached Steam and was immediately hit by allegations that the developers knowingly listed features on the digital storefront that had not yet been added to the game. Valve eventually stepped in and pulled The War Z from Steam.
DayZ fan film lacks zombies, still feels like DayZ
DayZ creator Dean Hall tweeted his appreciation for a new fan film based on his popular zombie-flavored open world title earlier today. And why not? The flick is a believably bleak meditation on the game's dog-eat-dog post-apocalypse, even though it doesn't feature a single zombie. Click past the cut to give it a look!
DayZ creator unveils new studio, RocketWerkz
Dean "Rocket" Hall has accomplished several great feats in his life; alongside creating the popular mod DayZ, which helped kickstart the survival genre of games, and conquering Earth's tallest boss (you may know it as Mount Everest), he can now add "starting his own studio" to his list of achievements. RocketWerkz is the name, and it'll be where Hall makes his games. Hall announced the news via Twitter, telling any prospective "programmers, artists, etc." to email him their information, noting that initial jobs would be on-site in Dunedin, New Zealand. Hall told Eurogamer in June that he wanted to create "a Valve in the South Pacific, if Valve focused on making games and not making Steam." Hall also said that he'll make himself available as work continues on the standalone version of DayZ, even after his departure from former employer Bohemia Interactive. [Image: Dean Hall]
H1Z1 brings the zombie apocalypse to Early Access in January
Publisher Sony Online Entertainment has announced that its upcoming, open-world zombie apocalypse MMO H1Z1 will debut on Steam's Early Access service on January 15. Normally this is where we'd warn you that Early Access games are, by definition, not complete and anyone purchasing access to an Early Access release should be aware that they're likely to encounter technical problems. However, SOE president John Smedley already did that, yesterday on Reddit. "What you'll be playing January 15th is a really fun game, but it's early," Smedley wrote. "It's everything Early Access should be - a fun and compelling game that isn't finished. Our goal is to have you help us finish it and have it be a game we can build a large community in over time." If you're wondering how H1Z1 will stack up against the reigning king of the online zombie apocalypse subgenre DayZ, Smedley addresses that, too. "Is H1Z1 going to be better than DayZ [at launch]? No it won't," he admits. "We'll get asked that question a lot and I wanted to be up front about it. We're not as feature rich and they have a lot of really cool stuff we just don't have yet. That being said, we're also a different game. We're an MMO and our goals are to create a large scale world that gives you the incredible feeling of being a survivor in a zombie apocalypse." When it arrives on Early Access, H1Z1 will feature a $20 price tag. [Image: SOE]
H1Z1 early access available January 15
SOE's H1Z1 zombie sandbox is coming to Steam early access on January 15th. CEO John Smedley posted the news to Reddit a few moments ago, and he was quite specific about who should purchase the title in its current form. "Is it going to be a finished game? Absolutely not. If that's what you're expecting, DO NOT BUY EARLY ACCESS," he wrote. "The goal here is to let you in early and help us mold it into a game you want to be a part of for quite a long time." Smedley went on to mention the entry-level price point ($19.99) and he also addressed comparisons between H1Z1 and Day Z. "Is H1Z1 going to be better than Day Z day one? No it won't. We'll get asked that question a lot and I wanted to be up front about it," Smedley explained. "We're not as feature-rich and they have a lot of really cool stuff we just don't have yet. That being said, we're also a different game. We're an MMO and our goals are to create a large scale world that gives you the incredible feeling of being a survivor in a zombie apocalypse."
DayZ PC beta due in Q4 2015, console prototype in Q3
DayZ has completed its first year in Early Access on Steam, and Bohemia Interactive is now sharing its plans for the game in 2015, including two important milestones: The beta version is due to launch in the fourth quarter of 2015, and the final version will launch in the first half of 2016. DayZ will retain its price of $30 during the Steam Fall Sale (starting today), but it will then increase to $35, and eventually $44 with the launch of the beta. The final version will cost $50. Bohemia Interactive breaks down the 2015 DayZ schedule by quarters, starting with the addition of new zombie AI, basic vehicles, diseases and more in Q1. The second quarter adds advanced vehicles, advanced animals, new UI, player stamina and more, and the third quarter adds traps, barricading, aerial transport and a console prototype. The final quarter includes the beta, alongside animal companions, base building and Steam community integration. See the list of expected updates below. Bohemia Interactive previously announced that a beta would be available by the end of 2014.
Mini DayZ is what DayZ would have been like in 1994
You can now play DayZ for free using a web browser ... kind of. Mini DayZ, a fan-made tribute to Bohemia Interactive's zombie apocalypse survival game, has been posted to the publisher's website and is now free to play via Chrome, Firefox, Safari or Opera. It's missing a few features - namely 3D graphics and multiplayer - but if you ever wondered to yourself, 'What if we gave DayZ a top-down camera and retro graphics," now is your chance to find out. Mini DayZ is the work of CannedBits, a Russian player of Dean "Rocket" Hall's DayZ (which, in case you need a history primer, is a standalone game that began life as a mod for Arma 2 and arguably boosted the multiplayer survival genre into prominence). In posting the news about the game's availability via Bohemia to Reddit, CannedBits even caught the attention of Hall himself: "I have to say, I absolutely love Mini DayZ," Hall wrote. "I think it's awesome, amazing, addictive, and brings something really new to the experience. I'm so glad you've been able to make it even better! Ignore the haters, the vast majority of people think it's fantastic and I am one of those people." [Image: Bohemia Interactive/CannedBits]
Protect your brains, DayZ is coming to PlayStation 4
Modder turned developer Dean Hall took the stage at Sony's Gamescom presentation to announce an upcoming PlayStation 4 version of hit zombie survival sandbox DayZ. Details on the new version of the game are scant - Hall failed to mention a release date or even a vague window - but the PlayStation 4 game is based on an "entirely new cross-platform renderer" that will reportedly bring new, enhanced visuals to the undead apocalypse. [Image: Dean Hall]
DayZ sadism extends to real life as servers are hacked
It's generally expected that within the confines of the game, DayZ players will be jerks whenever possible. However, such attitudes aren't limited to online: Developer Bohemia Interactive is currently investigating an attack on their servers, as reported by Rock Paper Shotgun. While a Reddit report of the hack claims that the entire DayZ source code was stolen, Bohemia only told RPS that no user data was affected. "We have recently detected an attack on some of our servers," Bohemia told RPS. "The precise nature and scope of this attack is currently being extensively investigated. There were no user data on any of the servers. Current development goals and schedules for our games will not be affected by this attack. More information will follow as our investigation continues." The news, much like a zombie outbreak, comes at with unfortunate timing: DayZ passed 2 million in sales less than two weeks ago. No good deed goes unpunished, it seems. [Image: Bohemia Interactive]
Incoming DayZ update to include fire, tweaks to physics, player control
If you've been wishing campfires would help give away the position of DayZ's, uh ... "spirited" brand of survivors at night, this might be your month! Developer Bohemia Interactive is planning on implementing a patch that gifts the destructive element to players, both for building campfires and igniting flammable objects. Reworked physics and player control are also planned, as is a fix to address messaging spam. Citing strong fan feedback as an inspiration, Bohemia's patch will implement 1:1 movement between mouse controls and the head of a player's avatar. Weapons are planned to act differently, though - the more cumbersome a player's equipped bargaining tool is, the longer it will take to swing in a different direction and fire. A system will also be added to let players charge projectiles, be it an item or the arrow they're aiming from a bow. Lastly, Bohemia hopes to fix a messaging problem where the "client and server 'spam' messages at each other, hoping that some of the messages get through." The studio believes this is the major hurdle in surpassing the 100-player limit per server. The fix is expected to appear on experimental servers sometime next week before appearing in this month's update. No word yet on a patch to make the rest of DayZ's player base as awesome as (NSFW language) fire extinguisher guy. [Image: Bohemia Interactive]
DayZ team doubles down with new developers
Bohemia Interactive is adding new people to the DayZ development team, "effectively doubling the whole project," the studio writes in an update on Tumblr. Bohemia is currently focused on fixing key bugs and starting work on new features, and last week it began developing a cooking system inspired by The Indie Stone's Project Zomboid. Players place food in a stove or fireplace, where it cooks or turns into edible things such as soup, and the items can become overcooked or cold. March signals a focus on survival mechanics, Bohemia says. DayZ creator and project leader, Dean Hall, plans to leave Bohemia Interactive by the end of the year to start his own studio in New Zealand. The team expansion and Hall's departure announcement are unrealated, Bohemia tells Polygon. "I have a specific use," Hall said in last week's announcement. "I'm really good at risk-taking and making other people take risks, I've always been good at that in my life. But eventually, that's the bad person to have. Eventually, you don't want the guy telling you to go over the top and get through. So at some point I'll be a disaster for the project, at least in a leadership role."
DayZ lead Dean Hall to step down by end of year
DayZ creator and project lead on the standalone edition, Dean Hall, will leave developer Bohemia Interactive by year's end. Hall tells Eurogamer that he plans to start his own studio in New Zealand. "I have a specific use. I'm really good at risk-taking and making other people take risks, I've always been good at that in my life," said Hall. "But eventually, that's the bad person to have. Eventually, you don't want the guy telling you to go over the top and get through. So at some point I'll be a disaster for the project, at least in a leadership role." Hall said he won't leave the DayZ community in a lurch, which now numbers over 1.5 million people, but he didn't intend to be with the project this long. Hall says, "That's why it's better to just address the elephant in the room. It's also fairer for Bohemia as well, rather than for me to just turn around one day and say 'see ya'." Bohemia had no comment on Hall's departure. Hall says DayZ can never be the multiplayer game with the spark he wants it to be and he'll continue to "chase that" in his new company. [Image: Bohemia Interactive]
DayZ's next six months to bring vehicles, bases and more
Vehicles, camping, hunting, base building and an improved stamina system are in the works for Bohemia Interactive's survival game, DayZ. Creator Dean Hall recently took to Reddit for an Ask Me Anything (AMA) session, where he revealed the upcoming additions to the game. The new features are expected to be available in-game sometime within the next six months. "Vehicles will be done based on the architecture we are doing for items/weapons now (i.e. attachments)," Hall wrote. "So it's in progress really. We are replacing the physics system for items (throwing, etc...) and this new middleware will be used for vehicles also." For those less inclined to murder their fellow humans, Hall also teased more PvE content such as hunting, camping, and base-building. Bases, Hall noted, will take longer to achieve. Barricades are expected to be the first step toward their eventual full implementation. Hall wrote on Twitter that there will be "experimental" patches for the game regularly, and that updates will be moved to stable status once per month.
'Stiq Tips: DayZ
You wake up on the shore of a mysterious land with nothing but the clothes on your back and a flashlight. You have no idea what to do, no objectives, and there isn't another soul in sight. No, this isn't a bad dream; you finally decided to buy DayZ. Playing DayZ is a unique experience, but it can also be confusing and can be frustrating if you're not sure what to do. It would be impossible to go over every strategy, item, weapon, and location in the game without forcing you to read a novel-length walkthrough, but here are some basics that will get you started.
Probably Archery dev teases DayZ-inspired gameplay mode
Probably Archery is not very much like DayZ. DayZ is not very much like Probably Archery. But Probably Archery will nonetheless feature a mode inspired by the open-world zombie apocalypse survival game. In an email interview with BitPulse, programmer Matthew Carr wrote that the team is working on something "really, really ... odd." "I don't want to spoil it just yet, but it was the strange result of messing around with weird ideas after being frustrated by DayZ's current state and I think it could be one of the most popular modes in the game," he told BitPulse. Of course, Probably Archery probably won't offer this mystery mode until it hits full release state sometime in early 2014, which will also feature a competitive multiplayer mode, co-operative horde mode and new single-player levels. Probably.
DayZ standalone sells over one million in four weeks
DayZ just got another healthy influx of folks who will eventually be shot for a can of beans. The player count for the Early Access standalone version has surpassed one million, Bohemia Interactive CEO and co-founder Marek Španěl announced. In DayZ, players fight to survive on a zombie-infested island. Perhaps more dangerous than the undead are other players, however, who may kidnap you and force you to fight for sport. The Early Access alpha is missing a lot of the planned features, which Bohemia Interactive hopes to trickle out over the course of the year. The beta version will be ready no sooner than the end of 2014, while Bohemia has yet to announce when it plans to launch the full game.
DayZ devs taking time, beta not planned until close of 2014
With over 875,000 copies of DayZ standalone sold in Early Access, the development team is going to take its sweet time getting to a final release version. In a recent update on the official DayZ development blog, the team said, "Please keep in mind that we do not expect to reach Beta status sooner than the end of 2014." "The level of support and confidence we have received from the DayZ community makes us even more dedicated to the game than we were in the past 16 months of DayZ standalone development," stated the post. "In the short term, we're going to focus on the most critical problems you're experiencing [at the moment] and at the same time we're going to work on the road to the DayZ Beta." Over the year, the team plans to continue working on "server performance, stability and security," along with hunting, gathering and "more complex interactions with the environment and crafting options." The launch strategy publisher Bohemia Interactive and DayZ creator Dean Hall are using for the game isn't that much of a surprise. Hall told us last year at Gamescom the best thing that could happen is if DayZ, which started its undead life as a runaway mod success, fell off the radar for a while. Hall said at the time, "I think if DayZ has a soft launch it's the best thing that can happen to it." We don't know if having nearly a million sales is a "soft launch," but the team clearly isn't in a rush.
Devs ramp up development as DayZ passes 800,000 sales
ArmA 2 mod turned standalone zombie apocalypse simulator DayZ has topped 800,000 sales less than a month after its Steam Early Access debut, an accomplishment that creator Dean Hall hopes will speed the game's ongoing development. "We ([ArmA 2 developer Bohemia Interactive] and I) had very ambitious plans for 2014 already, however this amount of sales was completely unexpected," Hall said in a recent Reddit post shortly before DayZ hit the 800,000 sales mark. "Honestly, 250k within a quarter was what I would have considered a success. So to move nearly 800,000 in under a month is crazy." Hall's exuberance seems appropriate, given that less than a week ago the DayZ team was celebrating the sale of 400,000 copies of the game. At a price point of $30 for the Steam Early Access version of the game, 800,000 copies sold adds up to $24 million. Even after you subtract the fees taken by Steam proprietor Valve Software, the cost of building the game, and other miscellaneous business expenses, that's a very sizable chunk of cash, which Hall believes will improve his team's ability to add new features to DayZ. "We'll be finalizing our roadmap in mid January, but it is safe to say that this kind of result will be having a very positive effect on that roadmap," Hall wrote.
