The zombie genre has dwindled over the years, but the likes of Dying Light 2 and, perhaps to a lesser extent, Back 4 Blood have shown that it still has its place in gaming. Bohemia Interactive's DayZ is another example of something that retains the idea of having a world infested with the shambling dead. With a map as big as the likes of Elden Ring, the open-world survival game is expansive and fairly brutal, and recent numbers show that it's still popular.
As spotted by PCGamesN, statistics over on SteamCharts.com show that DayZ has beaten its all-time peak player record. At the time of writing, the new record stands at 58,240 players, with around 23,000 currently playing. The last time it was over the 50,000 mark was in January of this year. But in general, although it's shown mainly an increase in numbers, it hasn't really managed to get into the high 40,000 region until recently.
It's unclear why there's been such an increase in players, with March's figures showing there's been a rise of around 15,000 in the last 30 days, but it could be down to the latest patch. Last week, DayZ rolled out the Walpurgis Night update, which came with a number of changes and additions. Chief among them was the reinstatement of some witch-like accouterments, such as hats and a cauldron, to celebrate the Christian-based tradition of scaring off witches.
The update also came with some new DayZ weapons. In this case, there were some firearms added to the game, such as the CR-550 Savanna bolt-action rife, a .308 Longhorn pistol, and a P1 9 mm. Many who have played the game know the importance of being able to get hold of weapons. They will also know the scarcity that makes the game a lot more difficult than others, whereby players can succumb to zombie scratches, starvation, illness, or a broken bone.
Given that DayZ is also one of the most popular open world survival games out there, it's perhaps not too surprising that it's seen a rise in the number of players. It favors a somewhat more realistic take on the zombie apocalypse trope, in which just finding a small can of tuna or a fresh zucchini can mean the difference between life and death. It may be a tough world to survive in, but the more than 58,000 fans shows that it's possible to make a successful game despite the clichéd walking dead genre not being as huge as it once was.
DayZ is available now on PC, PS4, and Xbox One.
Source: PCGamesN, Steam Charts