H1Z1’s Early Access alternate servers explained

Expanding upon H1Z1's Early Access announcement from earlier this week, Sony Online Entertainment president John Smedley returned to Reddit to explain the game's alternate servers and Event servers.

When H1Z1 enters Early Access in January, SOE will offer a number of different servers, each with varying rulesets. For example, you'll be able to choose between servers that offer:

1. No Zombies
2. Zombie headshot only (only kill zombies with a headshot)
3. PvE (no PvP)

"And just about anything we can think of to put behind a ruleset," Smedley added. Everyone who buys into Early Access will be able to choose from the different server options, but SOE hasn't determined how many of each server type will be available.

In addition to the alternate servers, SOE will offer something called Event Servers, or servers that have different rules such as Battle Royale. Access to these will be through a "ticket" system.

"Our goal here is to make it so you can earn tickets to the event servers and play there completely free just by playing the game," Smedley explained. Although tickets can be obtained by simply playing the game, you will also be able to buy them for as low as $0.99. This is one of the ways SOE will make money on what is slated to be a free-to-play title at launch. Tickets will also be included in the more expensive $39.99 version of Early Access, but again, you can buy the cheaper $19.99 version and still find tickets by playing the game.

Smedley promises they'll be adding other Event Server types later on, and plans to reward participants with prizes that will be "very similar to what Hearthstone does with The Arena."