'DayZ' Standalone Alpha Problems: Why The Creator Doesn't Recommend Buying The Game Just Yet

The “DayZ” standalone launched on Steam on Dec. 16, but the alpha version still contains some expected bugs and glitches. During the first hour of title’s launch, 19,000 players downloaded “DayZ.” After 12 hours, 88,000 downloads were made on Steam. The number nearly doubled after 24 hours – 172,500 people paid $29.99 to play the zombie horror survival game.

Creator Dean Hall, 32 openly warned players about the title’s initial glitches and errors.

“It’s a true-blue alpha. Massive areas of the engine were entirely reworked, involving a large team of people over the last 12 months. Much of what these achievements will enable won’t be seen for many months – so I really plead for anyone who is on the fence to take a skeptical approach – watch streams, read reviews, watch some let’s play and form your opinion. You could always come back to the game in three, six months’ time and buy it then.”

"Buying early will be a recipe for disappointment," he continued. "It’s a chance for those who want to be part of that whole process."

The open-world multiplayer survival game was based off the award-winning mod of the same name. The 2012 mod was designed by Hall for the PC game “ARMA 2,” a military simulation game. Development of the standalone title began in Aug. 2012 by Bohemia Interactive, with Hall as the project lead. In April 2013, Hall felt that a console version of “DayZ” was “almost certain.” He felt that he was “quite happy for ‘DayZ’ to come out on any console that is indie-friendly.’” However, Hall currently feels that a console version won’t be released until a PC version is available.

The objective of the game is to survive during a zombie apocalypse in a 225 sq. km. setting. Players must search for health items such as food, medicine and supplies. You can also equip weapons to fight off zombies and other players. Developers are planning to allow built bases for supply protection, with the possibility of creating player-operated radio stations of two-way radio capabilities.

Though the game has received nearly 200,000 downloads, its page on Steam is extremely upfront about possible bugs and errors. The announcement on the site serves as an outright warning to players. “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.”

“DayZ” also has an active forum where players can discuss various elements of the game, including mistakes and glitches. So far, players possess differing opinions, but many agree that its beneficial to play a significant role in a game that is a work in progress. "DayZ" is currently available on Steam for $29.99. Did you download the game? What do you think of its errors? Leave a comment below.