DayZ to leave Early Access, and launch Xbox One version in 2018

Given it’s been around as a mod since 2012, it’s hard to believe that the standalone version of DayZ is still not officially released yet. However, an update from the developer indicates that next year the game will finally come out of Early Access and also make its long overdue trek to console.

In the status report by lead producer Eugene Harton, it’s outlined that the planned goal to get the game into beta before the end of 2017 has sadly been missed due to the sheer scope of the project, but it is expected to be one of the last major updates before the game finally comes out of Early Access – a state the game’s been in since 2013.

The team doesn’t intend to finish work on the game there either, stating that they see DayZ as the ‘start of a platform that will be extended by us, and can be extended by the modding community’. To that end, the beta period will see them add many of the new features that have been promised since 2015.

Finally, the blog says that once the PC DayZ beta’s ‘headed in a way we like’ the studio will finally begin the previously promised work of bringing DayZ to Xbox One for 2018, more than a year since we were last told the project wasn’t dead. In short, this means that DayZ is scheduled to get a full release on both Steam and Xbox One next year. Interestingly enough though, Harton doesn’t mention the PS4 version at all, though we don’t know if that means plans have changed to bring it to Sony’s console as well. 

In the time it’s taken to bring the game to this state, a redditor has recreated the game in Minecraft, among other things. You can read the full update in the blog post on the DayZ website.