Currently, there are chaos days at the MMO studio Daybreak. However, they probably aren’t to blame for the alleged layoff of 70 people. It seems that the battle royale game H1Z1 is in a crisis. It is struggling against the competition from Fortnite and PUBG. The actual zombie MMO “Just Survive” is virtually dead.
Chaos days at Daybreak. We reported on the strange goings-on at the MMO studio Daybreak: Allegedly, Daybreak is said to indirectly belong to a Russian oligarch, whose accounts and companies have been frozen in the USA. Therefore, Daybreak is supposed to be in a crisis.
However, they stated: No, we do not belong to him. That’s just a misunderstanding. We issued incorrect press releases three years ago, and we actually belong to a private individual who worked for this company back then, which is now in trouble.
Adventurous story may be true: The story has now taken another turn. Apparently, the complex involving the “Russian oligarch” and the “Who actually owns Daybreak?” stuff was indeed as Daybreak has depicted.
This story is said to be true, even if it sounded adventurous. “Trustworthy sources” have confirmed this to the site MassivelyOp.
But Daybreak is indeed in a crisis, and employees have been laid off.
Source says: The entire team of “Just Survive” has been laid off
70 people laid off – “Just Survive” dead: The MMO site MassivelyOp has spoken with additional sources. It seems that among the 70 employees who were allegedly laid off, is the entire team of “Just Survive.” That was the original H1Z1, a zombie survival MMO that has been stuck in early access forever.
Players should not expect any more updates for “Just Survive” in the future.
The 70 employees being laid off come from all corners of the studio. The layoffs had been planned for some time. The layoffs are primarily said to be due to the battle royale shooter H1Z1: King of the Kill, which had performed excellently for years, now performing poorly.
H1Z1 – overtaken by time
The rise and fall of H1Z1: H1Z1 was introduced as “survival MMO with zombies” in 2014.
In 2015, the then head of the studio, John Smedley, had a “battle royale” mode built, clearly aimed at esports and Twitch. The battle royale mode quickly outpaced the MMO part of H1Z1 and was later separated. Smedley had specifically enlisted the help of Brendan Greene, known as “PlayerUnknown”, who is considered the creator of the battle royale mode.
H1Z1 captured the zeitgeist and celebrated significant success as a battle royale title on Steam and Twitch in the second half of 2016 and the first half of 2017.
However, even during its peak, the game received harsh criticism.
Because H1Z1 is more or less “only a mod”, could be developed quickly, but from the beginning had technical shortcomings:
- A planned port to PS4 and Xbox One did not materialize
- The “zombie MMO” part “Just Survive” was more or less neglected, although repeatedly emphasized, what a raw diamond it had
With the rise of PUBG and Fortnite, the star of the shooter H1Z1 sank in the second half of 2017. 91% of its player base is said to have been lost by February 2018.
Even though H1Z1 seems to be at its end, it is officially just at the beginning: Because H1Z1 was only recently released as a free-to-play title. H1Z1 aims to come to PlayStation 4 in May. As a special feature, “Auto Battle Royale” has been announced.
Sony had the ingredients for PUBG as early as 2015, but discarded them
