Changes ahead for H1Z1

But do they need it?

H1Z1, if you don’t know, is an open world survival game, one of the many that came out in the slog of the DayZ era back in 2013. Like many titles of this ilk, it’s stuck in Early Access, Steam’s way of supporting games through development. Games like PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds and Rust all share this base for their community.

But some games are better than others, obviously. H1Z1 is one of those games that has been around long enough to gain both admiration and venomous criticism. In 2016, the game split itself in two, with the release of King of the Kill and Just Survive. Players were annoyed that the game was already charging for another game without even finishing the base game first. Ark, which we covered a few weeks ago, also did this.

But, times are changing, and H1Z1 is changing too.

Going forward from now, H1Z1: Just Survive is dropping it’s the first part of its title, in favour of Just Survive. Along with a title change, a big update has hit the game too, which introduces weapon changes, a new world map, called Badwater Canyon, and will feature “targeted loot distribution, strategic verticality, [and] exploration opportunities.”

The new map will replace the old one, giving players a totally new place to explore and build within. A few other tweaks are being made, including the weapons available. They are apparently being “reworked from the ground up”, with different tiers now being introduced. What that means is uncertain at this point but we will see.

Survivors will also now spawn at the military base, meaning you can safely spawn and not get spawn killed straight away. There is now a trading system, using Golden Eagle Coins, which can be obtained by selling equipment, and used to buy (presumably) better stuff.

You can read the full patch notes here.

We’ll see how these changes go and whether that recent review score goes from 40% positive to something a bit more pleasant.

Indeed, we will see.