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PS4 and Xbox One versions of DayZ are still very much alive, it’s just that 99 per cent of Bohemia’s development resources are focused on getting the PC game finished, creative director Brian Hicks has told Eurogamer.
“No it’s not dead at all,” said Hicks of the console version. “It’s not dead at all.
“The PC is our flagship platform for DayZ. That is where 99 per cent of our development resources are focused. And while there was a lot of push from Sony and Microsoft to get up on their stages and say ‘yes, we’re coming’, our focus has been exclusively (I want to say exclusively because there’s about a one per cent development resource trying to keep those platforms at a point at which, once we get to our beta and our bug fixing, we can start pushing forward on that) on the PC. We can’t really move DayZ over to these platforms, at least on a playable level for consumers, until the base engine, Enfusion, is complete. Or if not complete, feature-complete so to speak – the core tech is there.”
Hicks added: “We do keep a small group of programmers on making sure that our PS4 and our Xbox One version are at least, tech wise, it’s running on those platforms. But we’re not going to be releasing any announcements on dates for those and I don’t think we ever have.”
Xbox One gamers are likely to see the game before PS4 users, however.
“Once we get to a point with the PC that we’re comfortable and we can start dedicating a little resources into catching up those [console] platforms then we’ll look at doing some announcements and talk about the Xbox Game Preview programme, which is what I would imagine is the first place we’ll get to since Sony doesn’t have something similar,” explained Hicks.
As for PC release dates, Hicks is keeping things as vague as possible.
“We haven’t committed to a physical date yet,” said Hicks. “We did release a press release saying that our goal was to hit beta in 2016, and release in 2017. Now it remains to be seen if that’s the case; it’s a goal we’ve continued to work for since we set it but … it’s very difficult to predict what is going to break and how severe the change is going to be when we’re moving these massive new engine changes in. It’s like taking the spine out of a game and putting a new one in: you can’t be 100 per cent sure if the immune system is going to reject it initially.”
Hicks admits development has “taken a little bit longer than we expected,” but is positive about what’s to come.
“I don’t feel, myself, like it’s going to take that much longer,” he said. “I sit here looking at the work we have ahead and I don’t feel overwhelmed at all, not at all – and I’m feeling very good about it.”
As for DayZ creator Dean Hall, now working on new projects at RocketWerkz, Hicks says he has no contract with Bohemia, but could be viewed as an “informal consultant”.
“The door’s always open if Dean ever saw something that he was upset about; he’s got an instant line of communication to the entire team.”
Source: Eurogamer
