Zombies have become an iconic part of modern pop culture and the undead have found their way into gaming plenty of times over the years. Between a litany of zombie-focused games and popular zombie expansions like Red Dead Redemption's Undead Nightmare, zombies have cemented themselves as a staple of the gaming industry with many games centered around surviving against hordes of zombies. Among these, Project Zomboid has been one of the most persistent, still receiving updates eight years after its Early Access release with a recent update giving the game a major overhaul.
Project Zomboid was first released through Steam's Early Access program in November of 2013 with a multiplayer version coming a few weeks later. The open-world survival horror game was the first game released by developer The Indie Stone and, while it still remains in Early Access eight years later, Project Zomboid's passionate fanbase and consistent updates by The Indie Stone have allowed the game to flourish through 41 major updates. The recent "Build 41" update gives the game a major overhaul in both graphics and gameplay with the developers even saying it "feels more like a sequel."
The Build 41 update released Monday features major overhauls to most of Project Zomboid's graphical and audio systems as well as plenty of updates to Project Zomboid's gameplay. Among the massive list of updates made to the cult classic survival horror game are complete overhauls to character customization and animations and a new soundtrack based on its Kentucky setting, as well as an expansion to the map adding parts of Louisville, Kentucky. Project Zomboid released full patch notes through the game's Steam page for players wanting to see all of the plethora of changes.
The Indie Stone went on to add in the Steam release that "next to no one" was playing the zombie horror game's stable Build 40 after the 41st update was added as a beta, which led to the decision to release Build 41 sooner than expected. While many players have shifted to the newest update, the developer also re-assured fans of the older version that Build 40 would "live on forever" as a legacy beta branch allowing fans to continue playing the older version of the game.
Project Zomboid's persistence after eight years of development is one of Steam Early Access' major success stories. The game's consistent updates following its release have allowed it to flourish alongside similar Early Access games with lengthy development cycles like Wube Software's Factorio. Project Zomboid's newest update promises a major upgrade to the game for both old and new fans alike and should help to refresh and re-invigorate the nearly ten-year-old title.
Project Zomboid is available now for PC.
Source: Steam