Having recently met with executives from both Xbox One and Playstation 4 to discuss a console version of the popular online survival game, DayZ creator Dean Hall says that “exciting things” are coming to Microsoft’s next-gen platform.
Although Hall has been sworn to secrecy, he did claim that the Xbox One had some “really interesting” features lined up for its console.
“I have nothing against consoles, and there’s some really interesting and exciting things happening. That was one of the cool things about meeting with Microsoft,” Hall told Eurogamer.
“There were definitely some things they said that I’m not allowed to talk about that I was like, ‘Wow! That’s interesting. Why don’t you tell people that?’ But I guess they want to make sure everything all goes together and that,” he added.
Hall’s comments would tie-in with Microsoft’s own statements about its next-gen machine. Having recently come under fire for slipping behind Sony’s rival platform in the sales department, the company stated that the Xbox One product roadmap is a marathon, not a sprint, with new features and functionality rolling out over time.
Additionally, Hall explained that a decision about a console version of DayZ is likely to be made by the end of 2014. He made clear that a console version of the zombie survival game is not in development right now, and if it does get green-lit, it will probably take 12 months to create.
Elsewhere in the interview, Hall said the full version of DayZ will probably launch sometime in the spring or summer of 2015. The game has already sold 1.5 million copies through its in-development Early Access alpha version.
A beta is expected to go live before the end of 2014. Hall stated that the finished product will be significantly different than the version we know today.
“It could even be fundamentally different,” Hall said. “As some of these new features come on – even some of the things we introduce now- it suddenly changes the whole way the game’s played. We finally got it so that ruined objects don’t really work any more; that suddenly changed the way players were behaving. If you shoot someone and destroy their gear, it doesn’t work any more. Even little things like that can have profound effects.”
Hall confirmed this week that he will leave the DayZ development team by the end of the year and return to his home country of New Zealand. However, his contract stipulates that he’s required to be involved with the future of the game in some capacity on an ongoing basis.
Source: Gamespot
