Matthew Byrd

Dec 5, 2017

DayZ, DayZ, give me your answer do – the survival horror epic's coming to consoles next year…

Revolutionary apocalyptic survival horror game DayZ is finally exiting Early Access and will soon be available to Xbox One owners. 

“As soon as the PC BETA is headed in a way we like, we’re still committed to bringing DayZ to Xbox, where we have a large community of gamers patiently (very patiently!) waiting for a truly hardcore online survival game,” said developer Bohemia Interactive in a post on the DayZ blog designed to keep DayZ‘s fans in the loop regarding what’s coming next. “All of that will (and must) happen next year – meaning we’re just about to start what could possibly be the most exciting year for DayZ so far. In short: DayZ will be out of Early Access next year, and we’ll also finally deliver it to console players in 2018.”

For perspective’s sake, consider that the original DayZ mod was released in 2012. That same year, DayZ creator Dean Hall announced that DayZ was being developed as a standalone game. At that time, DayZ was hailed as a revolution in game design. The mod used the ultra-realistic military series Arma as the framework for a post-zombie apocalypse multiplayer simulator. DayZ required players to scavenge for supplies and survive a world populated with humans and zombies. The mod is the undisputed inspiration for titles like PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds

In the years since DayZ‘s release, it has fallen on some hard times. Development of the game has been painfully slow. Indeed, DayZ has become something of a poster child for the entire Early Access concept. Its flaws have sometimes been written-off by mentions of the notion that it is not a completed project. 

That’s what makes this announcement such a big deal. If the DayZ team is serious about bringing the game out of Early Access, they’ll need to be able to fix several lingering technical and design issues. In that same blog post, the development team already alludes to the implementation of new features such as more zombies, improved combat, and new animations. Other ideas, such as base building, are being put on the long-term backburner. 

As for the game’s console release, it will supposedly come sometime in 2018 near or after the time of the game’s exit from Early Access. 

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