DayZ's standalone beta is still a ways off — studio reveals tentative development timeline

The standalone version of DayZ is going to spend the majority of 2014 in its “alpha” testing form as developer Bohemia Interactive takes its time fixing bugs and adding features.

You can buy DayZ now through Steam’s Early Access program, but it’s currently far from a polished product. The next phase of its release — the “beta” test — isn’t due out until the end of 2014, according to the developer’s blog.

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“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,” Bohemia chief executive Maruk Spanel wrote in the blog post.

People have purchased more than 875,000 copies of DayZ since its December launch. It’s currently only available for purchase through Steam or DayZ’s official website for $30. It’s finding huge success despite the studio warning players against buying the game in its current, unfinished state.

“We didn’t want to compromise on the brutal and unforgiving nature of the early days of the DayZ mod, so we’re very surprised to see such interest, as this clearly is not a game for everyone,” wrote Spanel. “We’re already seeing unbelievable player stories happening every day in the game even in its very limited Alpha and we’re focused to make huge progress in 2014 on many areas of the game. 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.”

Spanel provided a list of the studio’s priorities — although he notes this wishlist could change as the company reevaluates its internal roadmap later this month:

• Server performance, stability, and security
• Animals and hunting
• Cooking and gathering resources
• Playable user-customizable vehicles
• Player-created constructions in the environment
• More complex interactions with the environment and crafting options
• Streamlined user actions and interface
• Control and animations expanded and improved for fluidity
• Upgraded graphics and physics engine
• Support of user mods and more flexibility for user-hosted servers and game types