'DayZ' Standalone Reaches 1.7 Million Downloads, Bohemia Interactive Opens Another Studio

The zombie survival title “DayZ” has sold 1.7 million copies of the standalone game, while “DayZ” creator Bohemia Interactive has opened a new studio in Bratislava, Slovakia.

Creator Dean Hall revealed the news at the British gaming event EGX Rezzed 2014 last weekend, where he also announced the game’s original “Arma 2” mod had been downloaded more than 2 million times.

The developer’s Slovakia branch will employ the facilities, technologies and staff of game company Cauldron, which was founded in 1996 and is the developer behind “Cabela’s Big Game Hunter 2010” and “Jurassic: The Hunted.”

“DayZ” launched on Dec. 17 on Steam Early Access in an alpha release. After one hour, the game had recruited 19,000 users. During the first 12 hours, the title drew 88,000 players. After 24 hours, “DayZ” had been downloaded 172,500 times. The open-world multiplayer title was created by New Zealander Hall and developed by Bohemia Interactive. “DayZ” is a standalone version of the award-winning mod of the same name.

On Dec. 18, Bohemia Interactive CEO Maruk Spanel wrote a blog post about the game’s progress: “First day of ‘DayZ’ (Alpha). Hours passed: 24. Copies sold: 172,500. Survivors online: 142,403. Bugs discovered: many. Work ahead: hard.” On Dec. 17, “Gears of War” creator Cliff Bleszinski tweeted about playing “DayZ,” snapping a screen shot of a glitch he discovered in the game.

“DayZ” is a basic survival horror game, where players take on tasks to gather food, supplies, medicine, clothing and water in a 225-square-kilometer setting. Items can be collected in random places such as abandoned vehicles, homes and barns. Players can also pick up weapons for protection from other players or the undead.

The “DayZ” standalone game began development in August 2012 following the success of the original mod. Hall joined forces with Bohemia Interactive and took over as project lead. Three months later, he posted an unedited video clip of the game’s multiplayer mode to YouTube, saying the footage “makes no effort to mask the variety of bugs.” Hall has talked about moving the game to next-gen consoles like the PS4 or Xbox One, although no specific date has been set for either system. Though the game has experienced a number of bugs, its popularity has continued to increase.

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