DayZ, the open-world, zombie survival title for the PC, became one of gaming’s greatest success stories in late 2013. It appealed to most gamers due to its inexpensive asking price, dynamic combat and engaging multiplayer, but the game still remains in its Alpha stage of its development to this day. Even the most seasoned of DayZ players struggle to find reasons to keep playing, and new data on Steam Charts suggests that people are leaving the game at an increasingly rapid rate.
Earlier this week, a Reddit user posted a link to the Steam Charts data of DayZ’s player history, which shows that the game went from a peak player count of 29,000 in March 2015 to a peak player count of 12,000 in the last thirty days. In terms of overall player loss, DayZ lost over 15,000 gamers in just four months. While Steam Charts is not officially affiliated with Valve, the website does post accurate findings of the amount of people playing each Steam game month-by-month.
The mass exodus of DayZ players could be attributed to a number of causes, but central among them is the game’s extended alpha stage development, which continues to be fraught with glitches and exploits. DayZ marked one of gaming’s first successful early access titles, but its slowed progress from developer Bohemia Interactive reinforces the numerous problems associated with early access game.
If an early access title finishes development after years of having players participate in the incomplete experience, there is no guarantee that all past players will be willing to keep playing. A bumpy development cycle can only exacerbate an early access game’s chance of longevity.
It remains to be seen how DayZ will fare once development finishes, but the Steam Charts data certainly foreshadows a rocky future for the survival horror game.
Published: Jun 5, 2015 11:18 am