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.
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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.