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H1Z1: Early Access Begins on January 15th

SBFordSBFord Former Associate EditorMember LegendaryPosts: 33,129

Sony Online Entertainment's John Smedley has posted to the H1Z1 Reddit that early access will begin on January 15th. The team had originally planned to push H1Z1 out by the end of 2014 but felt it needed more time to give the game more polish. Early Access will not be a full game but is, according to Smedley, a fun game to play. Players can gain access to H1Z1 for $19.99 and "a more expensive one that we will announce here shortly".

Hey folks,

After a lot of hard work, we've decided to make the release date January 15th, 2015. This gives us just enough time to polish what we have and put out something we'll be proud of and hopefully you'll be excited to play.

Why did it take longer than we originally thought? It's a fair question. The simple answer is once we saw what we could have had earlier it wasn't good enough and we wanted to put something out that we would be proud of. What you'll be playing January 15th is a really fun game, but it's early. It's everything Early Access should be - a fun and compelling game that isn't finished. Our goal is to have you help us finish it and have it be a game we can build a large community in over time.

Is it going to be a finished game? Absolutely not. If that's what you're expecting, DO NOT BUY EARLY ACCESS. The goal here is to let you in early and help us mold it into a game you want to be a part of for quite a long time.

We'll have 2 SKUS when we launch. The basic early access sku for $19.99 - which will let you into the game and have a great time, and a more expensive one which we'll announce here shortly. The difference between the two will be things like access to some of our different game mode servers (which you can get access to by purchasing tickets or earning them as well) and other specifics we'll be outlining soon.

Is H1Z1 going to be better than Day Z day 1? No it won't. We'll get asked that question a lot and I wanted to be up front about it. We're not as feature rich and they have a lot of really cool stuff we just don't have yet. That being said, we're also a different game. We're an MMO and our goals are to create a large scale world that gives you the incredible feeling of being a survivor in a zombie apocalypse.

We'll be starting out with roughly 64k square Kilometers, but we plan to grow it right away.. and over time create our virtual version of the US post apocalypse. Look for us to start adding land right away post launch.

Check out the H1Z1 Reddit conversation.


¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 


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Comments

  • HrimnirHrimnir Member RarePosts: 2,415

    Ugh, this was one game that looks interesting, but i'm stilled pissed about DisneyQuest: Next, to the point i'm really not inclined to give them more of my money.

    Voting with your wallet can, at times, suck.

    "The surest way to corrupt a youth is to instruct him to hold in higher esteem those who think alike than those who think differently."

    - Friedrich Nietzsche

  • xenoracexenorace Member UncommonPosts: 205
    Originally posted by Hrimnir

    Ugh, this was one game that looks interesting, but i'm stilled pissed about DisneyQuest: Next, to the point i'm really not inclined to give them more of my money.

    Voting with your wallet can, at times, suck.

    LOL, I agree! I have a huge list of "do not support" and right now I am not even playing anything.

    S.C.I.F.I
    <Sights, Clouded, In, False, Illusions>

  • BeadmanBeadman Member UncommonPosts: 154
    I would think access would come with a Station Pass.
  • goboygogoboygo Member RarePosts: 2,141
    Why does a company as big as Sony have to start selling an unfinished game, just to uhhh finish it.  Growing tired of this trend.
  • BruceYeeBruceYee Member EpicPosts: 2,556
    The whole 2 payment types for early access( basic & premium) really doesn't sit well with me. Think they'd learn from DCUO that segregating the player base with DLC hurts the game.
  • MadFrenchieMadFrenchie Member LegendaryPosts: 8,505
    Originally posted by BruceYee
    The whole 2 payment types for early access( basic & premium) really doesn't sit well with me. Think they'd learn from DCUO that segregating the player base with DLC hurts the game.

    To be fair, from what I gleaned, the "premium" is just basically instant access to some extras that can be unlocked through in-game play.  It remains to be seen how grindy the game will be and how long it will take to get the resources necessary to unlock all that content, however.  That, for me, will make or break it.

    image
  • BigdaddyxBigdaddyx Member UncommonPosts: 2,039
    Originally posted by Hrimnir

    Ugh, this was one game that looks interesting, but i'm stilled pissed about DisneyQuest: Next, to the point i'm really not inclined to give them more of my money.

    Voting with your wallet can, at times, suck.

    Its amazing how stuck up people are on the stylised graphics that they would not only refuse to play EQNEXT but any other game made by SOE. That kind of hate is really unhealthy especially when EQNEXT isn't even released yet.

  • RevyMountieRevyMountie Member Posts: 2
    Very excited about H1Z1's announcement.  I'll be there! 
  • BurntvetBurntvet Member RarePosts: 3,465

    SOE's games are usually very buggy at and after release. Pay money for a pre-release quality game?

    How about  "no".

    And on top of that trust anything Smed says?

    More like HELL no.

     

  • ArchlyteArchlyte Member RarePosts: 1,405
    Originally posted by Hrimnir

    Ugh, this was one game that looks interesting, but i'm stilled pissed about DisneyQuest: Next, to the point i'm really not inclined to give them more of my money.

    Voting with your wallet can, at times, suck.

    Me too. I'm not going to play H1Z1 and I cancelled my sub to Planetside. I can't support SOE after they kept the EQN staff employed.

    MMORPG players are often like Hobbits: They don't like Adventures
  • Nemesis7884Nemesis7884 Member UncommonPosts: 1,023
    Why do so many games come out at the beginning of the year? No one has time to play then...
  • klagmireklagmire Member UncommonPosts: 95
    Originally posted by Bigdaddyx
    Originally posted by Hrimnir

    Ugh, this was one game that looks interesting, but i'm stilled pissed about DisneyQuest: Next, to the point i'm really not inclined to give them more of my money.

    Voting with your wallet can, at times, suck.

    Its amazing how stuck up people are on the stylised graphics that they would not only refuse to play EQNEXT but any other game made by SOE. That kind of hate is really unhealthy especially when EQNEXT isn't even released yet.

     

    It is pretty astonishing how some people will refuse to pay for a F2P game. Sony online makes the best AAA games out like DCUO, PS2, SWG and EQ.

    I suspect most of these people are lying, when it comes out F2p, they will download it and play it. People lie all the time to try to influence a certain agenda.

    I myself wont be playing h1z1 till its more finished and refined. When its officially released and ive played it enough to know, I may spend money on it as I did for PS2.

     

    Played:SWG(pre NGE/CU sucked)Yep its true, anyone who quit SWG because of the NGE/CU missed out on a much better combat system. DCUO, Fallen Earth, STO, The Secret World. Battlefield series. Planetside 2. Still playing SWG.

  • DistopiaDistopia Member EpicPosts: 21,183
    Don't wanna buy it early or unfinished? Wait until it releases and play free... WHy get angry about it either way? You don't have to buy it...

    For every minute you are angry , you lose 60 seconds of happiness."-Emerson


  • BigdaddyxBigdaddyx Member UncommonPosts: 2,039
    Originally posted by klagmire
    Originally posted by Bigdaddyx
    Originally posted by Hrimnir

    Ugh, this was one game that looks interesting, but i'm stilled pissed about DisneyQuest: Next, to the point i'm really not inclined to give them more of my money.

    Voting with your wallet can, at times, suck.

    Its amazing how stuck up people are on the stylised graphics that they would not only refuse to play EQNEXT but any other game made by SOE. That kind of hate is really unhealthy especially when EQNEXT isn't even released yet.

     

    It is pretty astonishing how some people will refuse to pay for a F2P game. Sony online makes the best AAA games out like DCUO, PS2, SWG and EQ.

    I suspect most of these people are lying, when it comes out F2p, they will download it and play it. People lie all the time to try to influence a certain agenda.

    I myself wont be playing h1z1 till its more finished and refined. When its officially released and ive played it enough to know, I may spend money on it as I did for PS2.

     

    I agree and i think hating SOE is just a cool thing to do. But refusing to play  HIZI because of EQNEXT's graphic style makes absolutely no sense to me.

  • CelusiosCelusios Member UncommonPosts: 337
    All the money complaints lol... honestly if you cannot afford 20$ for a game I think your priorities should no longer be video games but other aspects IRL. I'm not targeting anyone specifically here... i'm just stating the obvious. 
  • XarkoXarko Member EpicPosts: 1,180
    Originally posted by Celusios
    All the money complaints lol... honestly if you cannot afford 20$ for a game I think your priorities should no longer be video games but other aspects IRL. I'm not targeting anyone specifically here... i'm just stating the obvious. 

    Everybody has 20$. Its just that recently, games are not even close to be worthy of those 20$. Ive never even had problems to buy games when they launch for, I dunno, 50$. They were fun and for the price and I had a lots of fun. Last 2 years I havent bought any game, not because I dont have the cash,  because wiping my ass with it became more fun than playing some of these "AAA" games..

     
     
     
  • KellerKeller Member UncommonPosts: 602

    why do they use Steam to launch their product?

    why do they use Reddit to collect input?

     

    SOE Launchpad still works and SOE Forums are also still up. Why do I need to use thirdparty software to run the game and a thirdparty website to give my input?

  • DistopiaDistopia Member EpicPosts: 21,183
    Originally posted by Xarko
    Originally posted by Celusios
    All the money complaints lol... honestly if you cannot afford 20$ for a game I think your priorities should no longer be video games but other aspects IRL. I'm not targeting anyone specifically here... i'm just stating the obvious. 

    Everybody has 20$. Its just that recently, games are not even close to be worthy of those 20$. Ive never even had problems to buy games when they launch for, I dunno, 50$. They were fun and for the price and I had a lots of fun. Last 2 years I havent bought any game, not because I dont have the cash,  because wiping my ass with it became more fun than playing some of these "AAA" games..

     
     
     

    I'd think he was talking about those who want to play, (obviously) otherwise they wouldn't be peeved about an entry price.

    Other than trying to prove some point of superior taste, why exactly does this (your post) matter to anyone but you?

    For every minute you are angry , you lose 60 seconds of happiness."-Emerson


  • AtomicAtomic Member UncommonPosts: 46
    SWG-Fans finally have their new home (Smed).

    I believe him /sarcasm off
  • Dreamo84Dreamo84 Member UncommonPosts: 3,713
    Oh the angry comments are just too good for a laugh. I can always count on pissed off gamers to cheer me up!! ;)

    image
  • SpottyGekkoSpottyGekko Member EpicPosts: 6,916
    Originally posted by Keller

    why do they use Steam to launch their product?

    why do they use Reddit to collect input?

     

    SOE Launchpad still works and SOE Forums are also still up. Why do I need to use thirdparty software to run the game and a thirdparty website to give my input?

    It's quite simple really, they're just saving money and increasing shareholder value.

     

    It's aligning with "industry best practice" principles. Focus on your core business (SOE makes games), and outsource all other activities (forum management, billing and accounts, Customer Service, etc.) to third parties that specialise in those areas.

     

    Reddit is increasingly being used as a communications platform, along with Twitter. Everyone is using those platforms already, why force them to use proprietary solutions ?

     

    Besides, if your decision is to make only F2P games, you have to cut costs wherever possible ! image

  • CaldrinCaldrin Member UncommonPosts: 4,505
    Originally posted by goboygo
    Why does a company as big as Sony have to start selling an unfinished game, just to uhhh finish it.  Growing tired of this trend.

    You are not being forced to pay for it ? Usually testing is a closed process but they are opening it for a small fee to people who realyl want to get in early to test and help mold the game.

    Without eary acces you would just have to wait until the game was finished but now you have a choice.

  • DauzqulDauzqul Member RarePosts: 1,982
    lol. I feel bad for the obsessive collectors. "Don't buy this game if you're expecting a finished product. However, if you don't, you will miss out on exclusive rewards."
  • DrukstylzDrukstylz Member Posts: 189

    hope this is fun, been a long time since I had a good game to play. 

  • LordZeikLordZeik Member UncommonPosts: 276
    I'll give this a try. At the very least it can sit in my collection until it gets polished. Least it's not like AA where they had you buy a 50-150 pack to get your name/land ect.
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