DayZ Alpha Amasses 400,000 Sales in First Week

[Alex Co]

DayZ Alpha Amasses 400,000 Sales in First Week

Bohemia Interactive's DayZ alpha moves 400,000 units in its first week, with peak concurrent player numbers revealed, too.

Following news that the DayZ alpha moved 172,000 in its first day of availability [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/130679-DayZ-Alpha-Sells-172K-in-Its-First-Day], developer Bohemia Interactive has now revealed that the title has already moved 400,000 units in its first week. Additionally, the studio has also announced that at its peak, the survival horror title had 40,000 concurrent players online.

This is made even more impressive since DayZ is still in its alpha testing stage, and has its fair share of bugs that have yet to be squashed. To date, there have been three patches released for DayZ in seven days since it's been made available to the public.

While updates should be slow this week due to the holidays, Dean Hall, chief designer of DayZ, has confirmed that upcoming improvements will be incoming, which include the addition of extra zombies, tweaks to player and item spawning, new animal behavior and hunting options, anti-hack protections and a few more.

For those not familiar with the game, DayZ is a multiplayer open world survival horror affair developed by Arma III devs, Bohemia Interactive. In the game, players are placed in the fictional post-Soviet state of Chernarus, where an unknown virus has turned most of the population into zombies. Players must then traverse the world and scavenge for food, water and medicine while killing the undead to survive.

Source: MCV [http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/dayz-alpha-racks-up-400-000-week-one-sales/0126341]

Permalink

 

[AldUK]

But why? I've seen a lot of streamers playing this on Twitch and every time I try and watch it to see what all the hype is about, I see some poorly rendered character running across a huge empty space for what seems like forever. I get it, I get it, it's in alpha testing, but right now the game is barely playable besides just running around the map. And where are the frickin' zombies?

Give me State of Decay over this every time.

 

[Bindal]

But why? I've seen a lot of streamers playing this on Twitch and every time I try and watch it to see what all the hype is about, I see some poorly rendered character running across a huge empty space for what seems like forever. I get it, I get it, it's in alpha testing, but right now the game is barely playable besides just running around the map. And where are the frickin' zombies?

Give me State of Decay over this every time.

Who cares about the zombies? THE OTHER PLAYERS are what you have to fear. Zombies? Once you got a fireaxe, you one-hit them anyway.
And the surivival aspect is what people like. You run around for hours over empty fields because the alternative would be to starve/dehydrate to death, get shot by another player for your food/armor/weapon/no reason...

 

[AldUK]

Who cares about the zombies? THE OTHER PLAYERS are what you have to fear. Zombies? Once you got a fireaxe, you one-hit them anyway.
And the surivival aspect is what people like. You run around for hours over empty fields because the alternative would be to starve/dehydrate to death, get shot by another player for your food/armor/weapon/no reason...

Then why even have zombies in the game if they are so inconsequential? And what exactly is entertaining about running over empty fields when you can load up another game that has you on the edge of your seat?

I'm not saying it's a terrible game, it's in alpha and I'm sure the finished product will be a lot more filled out and refined. But right now the huge sales figures and high praise simply baffles me.

 

[Bindal]

Then why even have zombies in the game if they are so inconsequential?

Because Zombies? Who cares? Could be dogs instead, tho then it wouldn't make much sense if they drop nightvision goggles.
And the amount of zombies is going to be cranked up later, too. Right now, it just would be too taxing for a server to deal with (and zombies ALREADY glitch through basically everything due lag).
Plus, with such a huge map, you need SOMETHING to fill the map as a threat, that isn't another player (because with only up to 40 people, it's easily possible that you see no other player for ages unless you're in a real hotspot area)

And what exactly is entertaining about running over empty fields when you can load up another game that has you on the edge of your seat?

Because it's not the running over a field, which people enjoy but the exploration of areas they end up in. Some go with a goal, other just look what they might reach.

 

[Shadow-Phoenix]

But why? I've seen a lot of streamers playing this on Twitch and every time I try and watch it to see what all the hype is about, I see some poorly rendered character running across a huge empty space for what seems like forever. I get it, I get it, it's in alpha testing, but right now the game is barely playable besides just running around the map. And where are the frickin' zombies?

Give me State of Decay over this every time.

I'm heavily inclined to agree, I was given the game for Christmas and once I'd installed it and started to play it I found numerous problems:

Left/right click do nothing to open/close doors (press spacebar to get your hands out which is a weird concept and left click to punch)

middle mouse clicking the Wheel allowed me to open and close doors and maybe pick up items.

Zombies clipping through every house I've ventured into along with not attacking me when half of them is through the floor.


Basically the entire game feels like nothing but a barren wasteland of nothingness, combined with a alien like control scheme the game feels borderline unplayable and not even remotely fun for me.

There's no type of transport, never come across a weapon at all after 30 hrs of play, there's no animals to shoot and kill and there's 3-4 types of zombies with the same exact skins and noises.


Releasing the game as an Alpha was in my opinion not a very good idea since all it's done as of late is just grab money with little change offered in return, hell the mod was back in 2012 and even that's more advanced and a bit more complicated than Standalone.

For the time being I've stopped playing the game completely and won't go back to it until I know it's playable with at least a M+K or gamepad since I'd love to make use of a fully functional gamepad.

 

[munx13]

An unfinished mess sells well.

Makes me think if this should have been an EA game.

 

[Ed130 The Vanguard]

An unfinished mess sells well.

Makes me think if this should have been an EA game.

At least there is a promise that the game will be fixed compared to EA and they at least tell you;

WARNING: THIS GAME IS EARLY ACCESS ALPHA. PLEASE DO NOT PURCHASE IT UNLESS YOU WANT TO ACTIVELY SUPPORT DEVELOPMENT OF THE GAME AND ARE PREPARED TO HANDLE WITH SERIOUS ISSUES AND POSSIBLE INTERRUPTIONS OF GAME FUNCTIONING.

Which is more than what EA's multimillion dollar ad campaign would say.

 

[Baldr]

But why? I've seen a lot of streamers playing this on Twitch and every time I try and watch it to see what all the hype is about, I see some poorly rendered character running across a huge empty space for what seems like forever. I get it, I get it, it's in alpha testing, but right now the game is barely playable besides just running around the map. And where are the frickin' zombies?

Give me State of Decay over this every time.

I'm heavily inclined to agree, I was given the game for Christmas and once I'd installed it and started to play it I found numerous problems:

Left/right click do nothing to open/close doors (press spacebar to get your hands out which is a weird concept and left click to punch)

middle mouse clicking the Wheel allowed me to open and close doors and maybe pick up items.

Zombies clipping through every house I've ventured into along with not attacking me when half of them is through the floor.


Basically the entire game feels like nothing but a barren wasteland of nothingness, combined with a alien like control scheme the game feels borderline unplayable and not even remotely fun for me.

There's no type of transport, never come across a weapon at all after 30 hrs of play, there's no animals to shoot and kill and there's 3-4 types of zombies with the same exact skins and noises.


Releasing the game as an Alpha was in my opinion not a very good idea since all it's done as of late is just grab money with little change offered in return, hell the mod was back in 2012 and even that's more advanced and a bit more complicated than Standalone.

For the time being I've stopped playing the game completely and won't go back to it until I know it's playable with at least a M+K or gamepad since I'd love to make use of a fully functional gamepad.

Did you play the mod? All of the controls are straight out of the Arma Engine. They take a while to get use to, but there is purpose for them in Arma. The vehicles and animals I can agree with, they need to be added back to the game. While items are hit or miss right now and probably needed some tuning. Overall though I think it looks better and plays a bit better over the mod.

 

[Shadow-Phoenix]

Did you play the mod? All of the controls are straight out of the Arma Engine. They take a while to get use to, but there is purpose for them in Arma. The vehicles and animals I can agree with, they need to be added back to the game. While items are hit or miss right now and probably needed some tuning. Overall though I think it looks better and plays a bit better over the mod.

To me it feels empty and the controls feel quite alien which is why I've decided to put that game all the way to the back seat while I play other games until DZ is completed, until then it feels unplayable to me.

I'll most likely continue playing How to Survive, Dead island, Dead Rising,L4D2 and probably buy SOD to keep me busy for the time being.

 

[VoidWanderer]

An unfinished mess sells well.

Makes me think if this should have been an EA game.

I understand your logic, but this is an alpha version of the game, that people have been wanting to play for months. It is a known fact that this game is unfinished and not shoved out the door like Battlefield 4.

 

[everlia]

I have a spare copy of dayz if anyone wants it [email protected]

 

[t850terminator]

I'm going to buy this game.
WHATEVER IT TAKES!

 

[Mr. Q]

Guess people need reminding that DayZ standalone is an ALPHA build. Meaning its a work in progress being made better by the developers and the players offering their user input. This is what Minecraft went through during its early days. The game will get better over time. Be patient! At least the developers of DayZ actually give a damn about their game as oppose to EA who brought us the delightful failures of Simcity and Battlefield 4.

That said, its good to hear this game gaining steam and taking the baby steps needed to improve on it. I wish them the best of luck in 2014.

 

[Strazdas]

The game is buggy as hell and really barely works as it is. however it is quite clearly stated that this is an alpha stage of a game, so that is to be expected. And the guy seems to update the thing very frequently.
when it is finished it will be worth the money. My cousin bought it instantly though since he was a big fan of the original mod.

Releasing the game as an Alpha was in my opinion not a very good idea since all it's done as of late is just grab money with little change offered in return, hell the mod was back in 2012 and even that's more advanced and a bit more complicated than Standalone.

For the time being I've stopped playing the game completely and won't go back to it until I know it's playable with at least a M+K or gamepad since I'd love to make use of a fully functional gamepad.

I agree, but he was already past his release date and people were demanding to see a product. Well, you did. be happy now.

Give me State of Decay over this every time.

FOrget State of Decay, give me 7 days to die.

 

[Chicago Ted]

I admit, I purchased this because a buddy of mine wanted someone to play with him, but I have to say that I'm not at all impressed with how it is so far.

Yeah, I know it's an Alpha, I know it'll be improved over time, but it feels almost identical to the same game I played several months ago with all the same problems and only a bit of a UI change. Hell, in some ways it even feels worse. Even with my expectations low for it being an Alpha, I expected it to be more playable than its current state and can not in any way recommend to others that they currently buy into it with its $30 price tag as it is not currently worth that price.

Side note, am I the only one feeling that this "Early Access" trend is becoming more and more of an issue as of late?

 

[Mhmh]

I believe it´s 750k copies sold at this point... Anyway, if you are expecting your average run-and-gun call of duty or battlefield, then don't bother, this isn't what the game is all about. It´s a very slow buildup, to a few moments of very intense action (that is if you don´t die getting oneshot, but that also contributes to the tension). Also about your creativity - what little games and "quests" you can come up with, to keep yourself entertained as well as some quirky little interactions within the game.

I´ve personally enjoyed the game and the concept somewhat, as it´s very dependent on how and with who you play it with. Awesome when with friends, but just a shadow of itself when playing solo. So HAVING A GOOD FRIEND WITH YOU IS A MUST, as everyone you will meet will generally just shoot on sight, or the alternative - you can occasionally have a little chat, before one of you will inevitably hit the floor. Leaving the game to be kind of a lonely hiking simulator while playing solo.