Arma developer Bohemia’s survival game DayZ is finally leaving Steam Early Access next year. In a blog post, the studio said 2018 could be “the most exciting year for DayZ so far.” In addition to a full release, DayZ is headed to console in 2018, Bohemia said.
The blog post (via Kotaku) specifically says that Bohemia is “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.” Interestingly, the blog post does not mention PlayStation 4. The game was announced for both Xbox One and PlayStation 4, but it remains to be seen if the PS4 edition is still in the works; we’re following up with Bohemia to try to find out.
DayZ launched in December 2013 as an Early Access game on Steam. Despite being unfinished, the $35 game has sold more than 3 million copies. Creator Dean Hall left Bohemia in 2014, going on to start his own studio in New Zealand.
DayZ’s PC beta won’t make it out until sometime in 2018. Lead producer Eugen Harton said, “We tried to get it done sooner, but it’s going to be 2018 folks. Both the BETA update and any further 0.63 updates, up to 1.0, will happen in 2018, which is shaping up to be one of the most important years for DayZ,” Harton explained.
The 1.0 release of DayZ won’t be the end of Bohemia’s support for the game. Harton said the studio is treating DayZ as a platform that will be continuously supported for “as long as it’s viable.” Harton added that there are also “fantastic opportunities” for ongoing support through the modding community.
The DayZ blog post is stuffed with so many more details about the state of the game and what’s next; you can read the full blog post here.