The battle royale shooter H1Z1 has released on PS4. 200,000 players joined on the first day, but can the game retain its players this time? This is now the third hype of the game, but there have also been two crises. We take a look at the tumultuous history of H1Z1.
200,000 joined: It has been three and a half years since H1Z1 was first playable on PC. Yesterday, on May 22nd, it was finally available on PS4. 200,000 players wanted to test the free shooter. This led to server issues and difficulties. But it was a great success for the game. This is the third spring of H1Z1. We ask: What happened to the other two?
The 1st hype: 2015 in early access with zombies
H1Z1 – the zombie years: In January 2015, H1Z1 was released in early access on PC. At that time, the game was still a survival MMO. Players could build and fought for survival. Their enemies were zombies infected by the virus “H1Z1”. The game was hastily put together to ride the coattails of the “Walking Dead” zombie hype train. The studio was actually working on another game, then experimented with the H1Z1 idea and fell in love with the concept. Fans loudly demanded a release as an early access title.
Rotted at the core: The game was indeed successful. But relatively quickly, H1Z1 ran out of steam. It was too unfinished and buggy. However, despite the problems, over a million copies of the game were sold by March 2015. The developers promised to further develop H1Z1 in close collaboration with the community. But behind the scenes, they had other plans.
Smedley’s vision: The head of Sony Online Entertainment at the time, John Smedley, was a visionary who foresaw the gaming landscape of today back in 2015. Smedley believed that Twitch would be the new gaming medium and fully invested in a game that would be suitable for the streaming platform. And he predicted the “battle royale” hype even back then.
The 2nd hype: 2016/2017 – Pioneer of battle royale
Stumbled upon Twitch gold: In 2015 and 2016, H1Z1 gradually moved away from the idea of a “survival MMO”. Smedley brought in PlayerUnknown, Brendan Greene, as an expert to develop his “battle royale” mode for H1Z1. The mode was still a niche thing, rooted in the modding community of ArmA and DayZ. In H1Z1’s battle royale, players no longer faced zombies but each other. The new mode was a huge success on Twitch – even though H1Z1 was still quite buggy.
PvE players feel neglected: The sudden success of H1Z1 as a “battle royale shooter” diverted development in another direction. The zombie mode was increasingly neglected. There was no news about a “release” or the announced port to PS4 and Xbox One. Yet, the battle royale shooter was only sparsely developed. Instead of polishing the game, the focus shifted entirely to Twitch, organizing large tournaments here. With high prize money, they attracted popular streamers to H1Z1. Visionary Smedley left the studio at the end of 2015 after issues with a hacker group.
The split: In 2016, the studio announced that they would split H1Z1 into two games:
- The zombie part became “H1Z1: Just Survive” – and has hardly been developed since
- The battle royale shooter became “H1Z1: King of the Kill.” Under this name, the great era began.
H1Z1 – the illegitimate parent of PUBG faces trouble with its son
The golden year: In 2016 and the first half of 2017, “King of the Kill” had hardly any competition in the battle royale genre. Despite many problems, H1Z1 became one of the biggest hits on Steam. However, the game’s further development was not very impressive either. They were living off the direction Smedley had set. In 2017, a live tournament of H1Z1 was even broadcast on US television.
2017 – Fortnite and PUBG end the rise: This rise was halted with the emergence of competitive battle royale games. PlayerUnknown had soon left H1Z1 and built his own game for Bluehole in Korea: PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds was the massive hit of 2017 on PC. Smedley’s idea of having Brendan Greene develop a battle royale shooter for Twitch and Steam worked excellently – just not with H1Z1, but with PUBG.
When the free-to-play title “Fortnite: Battle Royale” came along, H1Z1 lost almost its entire player base: it dropped rapidly by 91%.
The 3rd hype: PS4 – Will it work this time?
How long will the hype last on PS4? We are currently experiencing the third spring of H1Z1. As a free battle royale shooter, the game seeks its fortune on PlayStation 4 and many are checking it out. Without having to fear the competition from PUBG and with some new ideas, an auto battle royale had success. 200,000 players on the first day is a significant number. The question is: “Will they stay this time?” With the current influx of players, it seems they hardly expected this – which is causing problems.
But a third hype is remarkable. After all, just a few weeks ago, things looked bleak for H1Z1:
