14 DAY TRIAL // Sony Online Entertainment’s massively multiplayer online zombie survival game H1Z1 is coming to Steam Early Access on January 15, and the company has released its launch trailer ahead of time.
The game is currently in development, and its alpha will be made available to players at the end of next week. H1Z1 offers a zombie survival experience set in a sprawling post-apocalyptic world, expected to expand over the course of development to an area of more than a million square kilometers.
The sandbox survival MMO will challenge users to survive in a decaying world, testing their wit and their guts against undead creatures, the fury of the elements, and thousands of potentially hostile other players sharing the same persistent world.
You will have to scavenge for resources and supplies and craft various implements and weapons, in a gut-wrenching trek across the rural United States, in the aftermath of the meltdown of civilization.
Gameplay will mostly be focused on trading and cooperation, with team-building being a key element of surviving in the unforgiving world. The devs have made it pretty clear that their goal is to encourage community-building, and not to have a PvP environment with zombies as a background.
H1Z1 launches on January 15
H1Z1 will be made available in two bundles, titled Standard Edition and Premium Edition, but for the time being, there is no word on the pricing of either of them. The descriptions on the Steam Store page reveal Event Tickets, Keys and Crates as incentives.
As with any Early Access release, the developers warn users that they should expect plenty of bugs and missing features, as well as potentially game-breaking issues, but things should improve as the process evolves.
The team at Sony Online Entertainment is eager to try out Early Access as an integral part of the development process, enabling users to get directly involved in the shaping of the final version of the game.
If you’re curious about the company’s plans for the near future of the product, you can head on over to the H1Z1 subreddit. Additionally, SOE will also publish its own development roadmap, as soon as it’s available, on the H1Z1 website.
H1Z1 is currently scheduled for a full release later this year. The game will be available as a free-to-play release, supported by microtransactions via an in-game marketplace.
The game is also expected to land on the PlayStation 4 computer entertainment system from Sony.
