DayZ pioneered an entire genre, but subsequently lost popularity rapidly. We shed light on why more people are playing it in 2022 than at its release.
What began as a mod for the military simulation ARMA 2 became the pioneer of an entire genre with the standalone version from 2013 at the latest: hardcore multiplayer survival. But despite dreamlike sales figures, DayZ ceaselessly bled players and by 2018 was rapidly lurching towards the low four-figure range.
The salvation? A new engine and a drastic rethink at developer Bohemia.
In the meantime, the zombie game is stubbornly fighting its way back to the top and even surpassed the former player records from 2013 by over 20 percent after the release of Update 1.17. At the same time, interest on Twitch shot up by 85 percent. Reason enough to take a closer look at this update and the other secrets of DayZ’s success.
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What makes update 1.17 so special?
The fact that the number of survivors playing simultaneously in DayZ shot up to 58,240 on the first Sunday after the update (a week earlier it was 42,810) is due to several factors. One might certainly be that 1.17 brought more new items into the game than almost the entire development year 2021.
A flood of innovations
According to Bohemia’s own annual review of DayZ, only six new or reworked weapons were added last year. 1.17 hit on 19 April 2022 with a whopping four weapons and four tools at once, including the first non-modern ranged weapon since the elimination of the bow: the spear.
Here’s a list of all the new or changed items, as well as the official trailer introducing them:
- Hunting rifle CR-550 Savanna (.308, scope possible)
- Pistol Longhorn (.308, telescopic sight possible)
- Pistol P1 (9mm)
- Homemade Spear (Can be carved with stone or bone knife)
- Homemade Stone Knife (Revised crafting method only)
- Homemade bone knife
- Meat knife
- Meat tenderiser (weak hammer)
- Mist fork
- Homemade campfire cooker (Slowly gets damaged when used)
- Egg timer
- Rope belt
- clothing set of cloth scraps (low defence and warmth)
- Homemade torch (now warms the player just like generators and vehicles)
- Self-built gas mask filter (Can also be refilled with charcoal tablets)
The new filters go hand in hand with the fixed and dynamic contaminated zones, which have brought a breath of fresh air to the two playable maps since update 1.14. Another overdue point of criticism that was addressed with the latest update was the configurability of the controls.
In addition to alternative control schemes for controllers, PC players can now also adjust the sensitivity of mouse movements depending on the game situation, namely when aiming, running and in vehicles.
Castles, Witches and Kings
A lot has happened on the maps as well, with the village of Niznoye in the east of Chernarus being revised and an old castle discovered on the eastern edge of Livonia. This is exactly where the supposed crown of the mysterious “Yellow King”, who has already been mentioned several times in the background story, is hiding.
The final piece of the mosaic that arguably makes 1.17 so appealing is the progress wipe that resets all players to the same level, as well as the three-week seasonal Walpurgis Night event. Lootable crooked noses, cauldrons, witch hats and (flammable) broomsticks can be found around the big bonfires of the towns during this time.
What has happened since 2013?
The crash
DayZ has had a real rollercoaster ride since its standalone debut. After initial hype and three million Early Access copies sold, player numbers plummeted massively due to slow and sparse updates between 2014 and 2018.
Various imitators skilfully exploited the stumbling of the pioneer. The most successful of them is called Rust, which has since distanced itself from the original role model and expanded the genre with entirely new accents. But even Rust took many years to become the game it is today:
While others passed by, DayZ only occasionally added new weapons, tools and cosmetic items to the game. The most exciting new addition was the introduction of vehicles, though this had already happened in 2014. DayZ was in danger of dying a slow and inglorious death until developer Bohemia decided to revitalise the project.
Like a phoenix rising from the ashes
With success: since the full release in 2018 and the underpinning switch to the in-house Enfusion engine (which will in all likelihood also fuel ARMA 4), the title’s popularity has been rising almost continuously.
The most important component of this turnaround? The modding support introduced at the same time! How fitting for a success story that once began as a mod to now be allowed to write a third, even more successful chapter through the development of the community.
In addition to the classic hardcore survival experience, which has also been massively improved (more on this in a moment), mods now finally allow players to enjoy DayZ in exactly the way that suits their play style – be it on pure deathmatch, PvE or even role-playing servers.
Seasons, bears and a touch of Stalker
Apart from a huge truckload of bug fixes and optimisations, there have also been some gameplay changes in the zombie apocalypse. The nasty brain-eaters are now more dangerous than ever thanks to increased attack frequency and melee resistance, but they are also easier to surprise because their senses have been dulled, which was welcomed by sneak friends.
In addition, Livonia was finally added as a second playable map, which relieved the burden on Chernarus, which was already soaked in blood after five years. Not only do warmer temperatures prevail there, but there are also new hunters lurking for unwary walkers: bears. In the old ARMA tradition, however, this map DLC is subject to a fee.
Last but not least, base building and crafting, ranged combat, weather (including seasons) as well as injuries and diseases have been massively reworked. What has remained the same is the steep learning curve, the absence of any tutorials, the relentlessness of the world, and the unmistakable DayZ feeling that is in some ways created by this very fact.
Community: What the Players Say
The numbers on (Steam) are clear: While the title still lingers in the low 70s in the sum of all ratings, the players of the last 30 days attest to an experience in the high 80s segment.
In the comments, however, the players agree that the optimal experience can only be found on community servers. Not only because the gameplay can be tailored to people’s needs there, but also because the cheater problem is fought much better there than on the official playfields.
A similar picture is emerging on Reddit. There, passionate fans defend the unmistakable experience against perceived killjoys. Interestingly, the console version for Xbox and PS4 also comes off very well here.
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However, in order to attract even more new or formerly alienated players to DayZ, Bohemia will need to step up their efforts once again, and that’s exactly what they seem to be planning.
This is what’s next for DayZ in 2022
In their (Roadmap for 2022) the developers promise that they want to step up a gear in the production of new items and enrich the zombie sandbox with many new facets. In keeping with this, Bohemia recently expanded the team responsible.
Livonia, whose south has been rather uninteresting so far, is also to be further expanded. So that you can cover the long distances comfortably without your car flying to Mars with you due to a bug, a newer version of the vehicle simulation of the Enfusion engine will be imported into DayZ.
A total of five content updates and four seasonal events are planned to keep players on their toes and continue the success story. Fittingly, the backstory about the survivor Hannah will also be continued in the update videos, which could possibly be connected to the recently announced DayZ movie, just like the Yellow King. Production on the film is scheduled to begin in 2023 at a British studio.
Our conclusion: It is striking how many DayZ players have hundreds to thousands of hours of game time under their belts. This confirms what was already apparent when we took another look at the survival hit:
Precisely because DayZ is so rough and challenging, and because as a true sandbox it doesn’t tell you how to play, it can offer survival fans a long-lasting home. The many improvements and mods also make it easier than ever to fall in love with the distinctive DayZ feel in 2022.
What do you think of DayZ? Is the survival milestone an old love that you still visit occasionally, or cold coffee? Feel free to let us know in the comments!
