‘DayZ’ Hits 3 Million Units Sold in First Year of Early Access
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While much of the attention in the genre of early access zombie survival titles has been on Sony Online Entertainment’s H1Z1 , that game’s controversial free-to-play features have done little to boost player interest.
, that game’s controversial free-to-play features have done little to boost player interest. Yes, there may be morbid curiosity, but endless forum posts do their best to warn players that the game’s pay-t0-win philosophyis more devious than we earlier thought.
Strangely, though, while H1Z1 ’s struggles have made more players appreciate the other Early Access zombie survival title on the market, like DayZ . DayZ may only be a year old, and still in Early Access, but the title has already moved 3 million units according to Bohemia Interactive.
That stat in and of itself is impressive given that Bohemia Interactive’s Dean Hall urged players not to expect a finished productfrom DayZ . He was very much aware that DayZ was a work in progress, and early time with the gameechoed those sentiments.
Even so, morbid curiosity seemed to override buyer perception and DayZ sold very well. The game moved 1 million units in its first monthof release and was the center of attention for a good while. Granted, some of that attention was not positive, but even then the title seemed to benefit and thrive. In fact, we’re sure that SOEis hoping that H1Z1 can duplicate that success, but unfortunately the bad press surrounding that game is not helping its case.
However, the success of DayZ likely means that the zombie survival clones will not stop with H1Z1 . Games like The War Z have tried to replicate DayZ ’s success, but poor development work did that game in. It’s actually a little strange to think that so many games in this genre have launched with significant problems.
DayZ ’s success proves that there is a market for zombie survival titles and the vehement response to games like H1Z1 and The War Z shows developers that it’s going to require a little more effort to get by. However, if some game were to come along and nail it, then we might be looking at the next big thing.
Were you one of the 3 million to pick up DayZ on Early Access? Are we still waiting for the big zombie survival title?
Source: Joystiq