H1Z1: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

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Fans of the survival/first-person shooter game H1Z1 will be pleased to hear that after spending over a year in early access, some of the game will be released on PC, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4 in the summer of 2016. 

According an announcement from the the game's developer, Daybreak Game Company, the game will actually be split into two parts: Just Survive and King of the Kill. This split  spawned from the original game's differing modes that all gained favor within various groups of gamers. H1Z1: Just Survive will consist of the survival mode from the early access version where the focus is on killing zombies and navigating the post-apocalyptic world whereas H1Z1: King of the Kill will include the player vs player modes like the popular Battle Royale.

The split will officially take place on February 17, 2016, and players can still purchase the combined title until then. Those who have the combined title will receive both copies of the split game on the 17th. But for those who only want to purchase one part of the game, they can do so after the 17th for $19.99 on Steam. However, since the combined version is $19.99 on Steam now, players might want to consider purchasing the title before the split. 

Daybreak Game Company has also assured that any in-game items players own will transfer over to the new version so players don't have to worry about losing their items. The in-game transactions will still play a part in both games for PC, so players will still be able to sell and buy game items as they wish. 

Now for the bad news. While H1Z1: King of the Kill is set to come out of early access this summer (already a vague release date), the developers have not made any promises about H1Z1: Just Survive. Already players have been waiting over a year for the official release, and it looks like they still have quite a wait ahead of them. 

And the ugly? Well, the reason behind so many players waiting for the game's official full release is because the game was supposed to be a free-to-play title once out of early access. Early in 2015, president John Smedley of Sony Online Entertainment (now Daybreak Game Company), claimed on reddit that the game would eventually be free to play. However, Day Break Games has stated in their game release announcement that they do not intend to make H1Z1 free after all. 

While I anticipate that fans of the game will be exited about the release on consoles and even the splitting of the game (it seems most people play one mode or the other), I have a feeling some will not be so pleased that they will have to pay $39.98 (at least for early access after the 17th) for the whole package after waiting over a year to play it for free. While companies certainly need to make money from their products, one has to wonder whether Day Break Gaming is simply taking advantage of the growing popularity of their game and cashing in on it. What was supposed to be free with in-game transactions to support it will now be the same price as the full early access title, for only half of the game. Will it be worth the money? Players will have to wait until the 17th to find out.