On Steam, the well over 8-year-old survival shooter DayZ has experienced a resurgence. Recently, a new record for simultaneous players was recorded. But what is behind the renewed success of the zombie game? Find out here on MeinMMO.
What is DayZ? DayZ is a large survival sandbox set in a zombie apocalypse. You try to survive on an island overrun by zombies in the former Soviet Union, along with a variable number of players. Surviving is the only goal of the game; there is no story or anything similar.
Besides the zombies, your biggest enemies are the other players, as they can attack and rob you at any time.
The game started in 2012 as a mod for the shooter Arma 2 and later came to Steam in early access. There were numerous issues and bugs, yet the game officially entered beta in 2018 and even a console version for PS4 came out in 2019.
The game has had some turbulent moments over the years; at times, player numbers sank below 5,000. In 2020, the previous development studio was even closed.
However, player numbers noticeably increased in 2020 and have now even climbed to a new record.
New Player Record After 8 Years – What Are the Reasons?
What are the current player numbers? Last weekend, DayZ reached a new player record on Steam. According to Steamcharts, there were 45,973 players trying to survive in the zombie world at the same time.
More players are now playing it than at the early release in 2013, when there were a maximum of 45,398 players. Compared to the previous month of October, there are over 6,000 players more.
What are the causes? There are several reasons for the significant increase in player numbers:
- The game is 40 percent cheaper in the autumn sale on Steam (via Steam). This led many players to want to try it for €23.99.
- Recently, update 1.15 was rolled out, which among other things brought 2 new weapons, new clothes, a brutal melee weapon, and many fixes.
- The game still rightly has the reputation of being a hardcore PvP survival sandbox. Anyone who enjoys such gameplay still can’t miss out on it.
What is the mood among players? The Steam reviews for DayZ are predominantly positive. Of 236,708 reviews, 70 percent are favorable at the time of this news (30.11.2021). Players currently praise the well-designed, immersive world where they constantly feel threatened. Additionally, the community is less toxic than before, and especially in playing together with friends, there is a lot of fun.
Both casual players and hardcore PvP fans can find something here. Only the start is a bit tough because you have to get into the game first.
So much for the new success of an 8-year-old game. If you want to check out other survival games aside from DayZ, then take a look at our list here: The 24 Best Survival Games 2021 for PlayStation, Xbox and PC
