Zombie Survival Game DayZ Set to Hit Consoles

Popular zombie survival horror game DayZ, designed by New Zealander Dean Hall, may be coming to Microsoft’s Xbox One and Sony’s PlayStation 4 by the end of 2014.

DayZ, which sells between 3000 to 4000 copies per day, is currently only available for the PC, but many players want to see the open world horror game come to consoles.

“We’ve toyed around what to do with the console side of things,” Hall told Eurogamer.  “We have to get the core aspects of the game finished before we commit to doing anything.”

DayZ launched on 17 December 2013 on Steam Early Access as an alpha release. Despite its many bugs, the game had recruited 19,000 users in an hour. During the first 12 hours, the title drew 88,000 players. After 24 hours, DayZ had been downloaded 172,500 times. By 1 April, the game had sold 1.7 million copies of its standalone version. The open-world multiplayer title was created by Hall and developed by Prague-based Bohemia Interactive.

DayZ is a basic survival horror game, where players take on tasks to gather food, supplies, medicine, clothing and water in a 225-square-kilometer setting. Items can be collected in random places such as abandoned vehicles, homes and barns. Players can also pick up weapons for protection from other players or the undead.

Hall grew up in Oamaru and attended Waitaki Boys High School. He started video game development on an Amiga personal computer his parents purchased him as a child.

Original article by Abigail Elise, International Business Times, June 18, 2014.