DayZ standalone delayed to make further improvements

DayZ, the mod phenomenon which took the world by storm, was scheduled to have its standalone version ready by the end of 2012. Unfortunately, that isn't how it panned out. Even though they were realistic goals set by the developers of the standalone version, it turns out that they want to put some more work into the game to make it that much better.

In a blog written by Dean Hall, he states why the decision was made, and what can people expect out of this delay. Along with that, he also announced that a closed test would be happening soon with approximately 500-1000 people being picked to participate.

Put simply, DayZ Standalone isn’t here because we had the chance to go from making a game that was just the mod improved slightly, packaged simply, and sold – to actually redeveloping the engine and making the game the way we all dreamed it could be. This blew any initial plans we had dictated to pieces.

One of the biggest and most prominent changes done so far to the game has been a complete revamp of the inventory system, as well as a new scavenging for items component.

An additional area of change has been to make the inventory system more intuitive along with a key focus on providing visceral feedback on your progress through what inventory you have. The use of drag-and-drop, 3D models rather than 2D pictures, and being able to add items/clothing to your character in 3D in the inventory screen – have all come out of months of design work and research. I’m extremely pleased with the results of Jirka and Hladas, two of the programmers who have been working on implementing the design ideas. I believe the changes to this inventory system will fundamentally change the nature of the DayZ experience.

While it's sad news for those that wanted the game to be out soon, I think we can all agree that making the game better is worth the wait. Right War Z?