'H1Z1' PS4 Release Date Nearing? Sony May Add Buyable Airdrops To The Game

Zombie survival game “H1Z1” developers may add the option of real-cash supply-drop purchases in the game. If developer Sony Online Entertainment chooses to add the ability to the multiplayer online, players will be able to receive useful items via airdrops.

“One of the things we’re looking at is selling airdrops. We don’t want to mess with the hardcore survival aspects, but … once you order one, it spawns into the world. Players see the C130 spawn into the world, so you’re giving other players the opportunity to jack your stuff,” Senior Game Designer Jimmy Whisenhunt told GameInformer during PAX Prime in Seattle earlier this week.

This feature could prove to be more trouble than it’s worth for in-game players, since small actions in the game impact other players and the surrounding environment. One downfall of adding airdrops is that nearby characters may steal your purchase.

“We want to see what happens, because in the end you want to get something from it but you’re also impacting the world. I mean, you could plop this into the world and cause chaos. We want to see how it goes. Various things can be in the crates, including high-end gear,” Whisenhunt added.

If added, airdrops will add to a number of cool in-game features, including dynamic weather, seasonal changes, a night-to-day cycle and drivable vehicles.

Earlier this month, Sony Online Entertainment announced “H1Z1” will be available on the PlayStation 4. The developer confirmed the upcoming launch during a keynote speech during a Sony Online Entertainment live event on Aug. 15. We knew the game was coming to Steam sometime in the future, but Sony hadn’t confirmed the title would be available on the eighth-generation PS4. No official release date has been set.

Sony Online has yet to release the PC version of the game on Steam Early Access but doesn’t want to launch a product that isn’t working properly.

“We’re going to make sure our alpha is superpolished. We could go Early Access on Steam tomorrow, but we wouldn’t be proud of it, and it wouldn’t be something we’d want to showcase to the players,” designer Adam Clegg told us during E3 in June. “We don’t want things you have to hurdle over in order to play the game.”