The standalone version of DayZ is a year old now, but its developer has a whole stack of ideas that its planning to implement over the next 12 months.
Bohemia Interactive has made a lot of progress toward finishing its open-world online survival game, and the company is ready to talk about its plans for the future. DayZ is one of the biggest Early Access games on the Steam digital-distribution platform, and those sales have enabled Bohemia to continue improving the zombie-apocalypse simulator. Now, the developer is finally sharing a timetable for some of its most anticipated additions to the game. That includes vehicles, improved zombie intelligence, and the PlayStation 4 version.
“2014 has been an immensely successful year for DayZ,” producer Brian Hicks said in a statement. “We could have never hoped for so many people to join us for the adventure of Early Access development. As the team looks forward to our goals and features set for 2015, the vision of an open world sandbox where the player creates their own story and experiences comes closer to completion.”
Here’s a breakdown of what’s coming to DayZ over the next four quarters:
Q1 2015
- Basic vehicles
- Advanced loot distribution
- New renderer
- New Zombie AI
- Basic stealth system (zombies and animals)
- Diseases
Q2 2015
- Advanced vehicles (repair and modifications)
- Advanced animals (life cycle, group behavior)
- Player statistics
- New UI
- Player stamina
- Dynamic events
Q3 2015
- Traps
- Barricading
- Character life span + soft skills
- Animal predators + birds
- Aerial transport
- Console (PS4) prototype
Q4 2015
- Animal companions
- Steam community integration
- Construction (base building)
- Beta version; expected price $43.99 USD
While the game is still in its alpha testing phase, you can get it for $30, but — as is typical for Early Access games — the price will go up as it moves into beta. It will likely see another price increase once it hits its full 1.0 version sometime in 2016.