Show/Hide Show/Hide

H1Z1

 
PC Maintenance: February 19, 2020Feb 19, 2020 - Community AnnouncementsThe Z1BR client has been updated with the following fixes: • ARV spawns have been replaced with Offroader spawns to correct an exploit that allowed players to go prone and shoot inside the ARV turret • Twitch Account Linking/Unlinking has been fixed. • Asia/Pacific region lock has been softened so the region’s home server will be NA. No server downtime is required.Season 6 Kickoff and Server UpdateNov 7, 2019 - Community Announcements{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/11988327/4264f0eeb5e3d98fc4475cdedaf6852f2f2cddca.png Season 6 of Z1BR begins today, Thursday, November 7, in all server regions (no downtime is required). This season, we are relaxing ping lock and removing Asia as a playable region. This will allow us to consolidate our player base and speed up match queue times on NA and EU servers, offering all players the opportunity to refresh their Leaderboard standing with the new season.H1Z1 developers Daybreak layoff yet more employeesOct 12, 2019 - Rock, Paper, ShotgunH1Z1 and PlanetSide 2 developers Daybreak Game Company went through another round of layoffs yesterday, though the number of employees affected is unknown. This is the third wave since the beginning of 2018. (more…) Game Update: July 17, 2019Jul 17, 2019 - Community AnnouncementsZ1BR servers will come down in all regions on Wednesday, July 17 at 2 PM PDT / 10 PM BST to bring you the new game update. Estimated downtime is 3 hours. Full patch notes below: Game Updates: New Vehicle: Racer https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/11988327/378103d3d1d59edbe0efa2858a67b9e27dd79ee7.jpg The supercharged Racer luxury sports car makes its debut in the Raining Racers Arcade Mode. It will join the permanent roster of vehicles across all game modes next Season. New Arcade Mode: Raining Racers https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/11988327/994c3be7d70984bf509dab82a656416e381fb06a.jpg Raining Racers is a solos mode that drops players into the match with two Racer Signal grenades, each capable of calling in a Racer airdrop. Toxic gas is extra deadly, and the time between gas rings has been dramatically cut, requiring speed and quick thinking to make the final gas ring. The Raining Racers weapons arsenal has also been designed to add extra danger to the road: the Deagles, Explosive Crossbows, and the RPG-7 (airdrop only) are the only available weapons in this mode. Win an Arcade match with any helmet equipped throughout the duration of the Raining Racers event to earn the legendary animated Fastest Racer Helmet. The new Racer Crate has been added to the game: https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/11988327/ff9085d62b80b6f5a896eb77e6360b09fdb6c3d4.jpg Each Crate purchases offers a rare chance to hit Jackpot, instantly unlocking all 10 Racers skins in the crate at once. Three new outfits and the legendary Police Racer skin are available for purchase as single-set crates: https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/11988327/0f45069cdbe4279d948abe28fa65d874a7e96144.jpg Game Update: June 26, 2019Jun 26, 2019 - Community AnnouncementsZ1BR servers will come down in all regions on Wednesday, June 26 at 2 PM PDT / 10 PM BST to bring you the new game update. Estimated downtime is 2 hours. Full patch notes below: Game Updates: New Arcade Mode: Hot Dog Eating Contest Hot Dog Eating Contest will run from Wednesday, June 26 to Wednesday, JUly 10 Hot Dog Champion: Collect 100 Hot Dogs to earn the Patriotic Motorcycle Helmet (ultra rare) Hot Dog Eating King: Win an Arcade Mode match with the Golden Hot Dog in your possession to earn the Patriotic Unicorn Mask (legendary) Once a player completes the Hot Dog Eating King challenge, the golden hot dog will no longer be visible to that player (they can still collect regular hot dogs) New Crate: Patriotic Set Crate is now available Bug Fixes: Item icons are fixed including the Vixen Set Crate New Summer Event: Hot Dog Eating Contest!Jun 25, 2019 - Community AnnouncementsH1Z1 (PS4) and Z1BR (PC) servers will be coming offline at the below times for each region for an estimated 2-hour maintenance to bring you the new Summer game update: Z1BR PC global: Wednesday, June 26 at 2PM PDT PS4 NA: Thursday, June 27 at 8AM PDT PS4 EU: Thursday, June 27 at 11PM BST Who's Hungry? We're ready to usher in the heat with a special Arcade Mode dedicated to that most timeless of summertime traditions: stuffing our faces with hot dogs! NEW EVENT: HOT DOG EATING CONTEST https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/11988327/e42ef9222197623753380ecb4e3858ca82830274.jpg Much poultry has been consumed throughout Pleasant Valley but we're in a red meat mood this summer! The Hot Dog Eating Contest is a new Arcade Mode scheduled to run from Thursday, June 27 through Wednesday, July 10. Celebrate the great eaters of lore by collecting two types of hot dogs scattered across the map, each offering their own challenge and reward. Collect 100 hot dogs throughout the duration of the event and you'll be rewarded with the new ultra rare Patriotic Motorcycle Helmet! But for hungrier players with the skill (and the stomach!), a special reward exists if you find and finish a match with a rare golden hot dog. https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/11988327/ed2b457670caaa8a53034d8c6525227da3693d9c.png Unlike regular hot dogs, which count toward your challenge total every time you pick one up regardless of your placement in any individual match, a golden hot dog remains in your inventory until you're killed or you win that match. Found in air drops, golden hot dogs can also be looted off others, and any lootbag with one will clearly be seen to contain it. You MUST win the match with a golden hot dog in your inventory to collect a legendary reward: the new animated Patriotic Unicorn Mask! https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/11988327/8de8446e7126c8bf0d1a64e70f2f23416c52b89b.jpg The Hot Dog Eating Contest modifies the Swagnum Opus ruleset, with every player dropping in with a special one-shot Swagnum (golden magnum) and a single round. Additional rounds can be found in airdrops, while Crossbows (with fireworks!) and throwables can be picked up across the map. This event will only be available in Arcade Mode through Wednesday, July 10, so be sure to finish off your dogs and collect your rewards before it ends! PATRIOTIC SET CRATE Unsure what to wear to that family BBQ? Get decked out for Summer with the all-new Patriotic Set Crate! https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/11988327/20ae917893148ecb5df5f231b1ac0cbdc76f9c72.png Four new Patriotic Sets are available to show off your liberty colors, with each crate purchase offering a guaranteed set or higher tier unlock, all the way up to legendary with the animated Patriotic Stars Helmet! Check out the Marketplace every day for new weapon, vehicle, and parachute skins to complete your outfit! SUMMER CRATE...Game Update: June 13, 2019Jun 13, 2019 - Community AnnouncementsZ1BR Servers are back up in all regions after today's game update. Full patch notes below: Updates: The ARV has been added to all game modes The LMG (mid-range Light Machine Gun) and Scout Rifle (long-range sniper rifle) have been added to all game modes 6 New Arcade Modes have been introduced: Sharp Shooter, Road Runners, Assault Rush, Detonation, ATV Rampage, Outlawed: No Shotguns No Bows Arcade Modes will now run on a rotating weekend cadence from Friday 10am PDT – Monday 10am PDT. Initial schedule: June 14 – June 17: Shotties & Snipers June 21 – June 24: Auto Royale June 28 – July 1: ATV Rampage Z1BR and the Road Ahead of UsJun 6, 2019 - Community AnnouncementsFirst off, thank you all for your patience as we worked through what’s next for Z1BR. We have a deep love for this game. H1Z1 on PC, after all, is the OG BR game that launched the most popular genre in the world, and many of us have spent years working on it. We know as well as anybody how much the landscape for battle royale has changed over that time; but we still believe there is a special something to H1’s unique flavor of no-frills BR. The dev team at NantG did an amazing job bringing Z1BR back to its roots, but the sudden transition left the game in today’s uncertain state. The challenges are real and significant. But we also know that many of you love this game just as we do. With your help, we believe we can try out some new ideas and get the game back on solid footing. Ultimately, we understand that no single update or major content drop will ever get Z1BR back to #1 on Twitch or bring in millions of new players. But we’re not ready to call it quits either. Like you guys, many of us have poured thousands of hours into this game; we still believe it fills a special niche and offers a unique experience no other BR game can match. PC vs PS4 The immediate challenge we faced at the beginning of this transition is that our team has been entirely focused on PS4 development for some time. Z1BR (PC) and H1Z1 (PS4) development and gameplay have forked in meaningful ways in the past year -- particularly when it comes to the core combat mechanics that make Z1BR so unique. That said, while we don’t want to touch Z1BR’s core mechanics, one of the advantages we start out with is a deep library of PS4 content (past, present, and under development) that we’ve already begun scoping out for Z1BR. PS4 content like new modes (e.g. FFA), new weapons, new vehicles, new skins, and ultimately, a new map are now all on the table for Z1BR. The game will still continue to look and feel like the Z1BR you know and love. Only now with both games under the same umbrella again, we have the opportunity to experiment with some of the fun new content we cooked up for PS4 that we can now bring to both games and both communities. SEASON 4 We initially ended Season 3 and kicked off a new, interim Season 4 so we could work on our strategy to support both games. Now that we’re ready, we plan to immediately introduce meaningful new content to Z1BR with our first game update next week on Thursday, June 13. Next week’s update will include: • ARV for all modes • LMG and Scout Rifle for all modes • 6 new Arcade Modes • New Skins and Outfits And on deck following next week’s update is the return of an old friend: Auto Royale! This is our first opportunity to introduce some of the cool content our PS4 team designed, but it also signifies our focus on live service: more frequent updates, rotating Arcade modes, fresh content and new events. SEASON 5…AND BEYOND We have a lot more PS4 content available for Z1BR – some in active development, some tried and tested on console that we believe...Showdown RewardsMay 15, 2019 - Community AnnouncementsAs we stated in our Season 4 Announcement, we wanted to ensure that every player who would've qualified for Showdown in each region receives their rewards, per their ranking at the end of Season 3. After our standard review process (monitoring CS reports for cheating, toxic behavior, or confirmed exploits), we have begun the process of granting the following items to the following players: Animated Showdown AR-15: Top 15 in each region Showdown Logo Tactical Backpack: Top 100 in each region Showdown Logo Motorcycle Helmet: All Z1BR players who logged in during calendar year 2019 https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/11988327/e5f5d41d350e9b1687e72823afe81250e985a7d9.jpg All Showdown Rewards should be fully granted by the end of today (Wednesday, May 15, 2019).Game Update: May 1, 2019Apr 30, 2019 - Community AnnouncementsZ1BR Servers will come down in all regions on Wednesday, May 1 at 1 PM PDT / 8 PM GMT to end Season 3. Estimated downtime is 3 hours. Full patch notes below: Game Updates: Season 3 has ended. Season 4 is scheduled to begin on May 14th. South America has been removed as a playable region. Ranked Pro has been removed from the game. Bug Fixes: Helmet icons, Armor icons, and player health now update properly in the group HUD. Fixed an issue that caused some players to occasionally get stuck on an unresponsive title screen. Shot block markers no longer display for vehicle passengers. Reticle should be blocked by the character’s head less often when crouching and strafing. Made camera heights for 1911 and bow more consistent when moving versus stationary when crouched. Weapon icons no longer occasionally appear sideways in the Kill Feed. Group members returning from a match now display together properly on the Main Menu. Team members no longer hear each other firing the AR-15 when opening Crates. Update on Z1BR Seasons, Servers and ShowdownApr 19, 2019 - Community AnnouncementsAs we’ve stated since the transition, our number one goal is to maintain Z1BR game service while we evaluate the steps required to continue supporting the game. As part of this process, we want to provide our players information about the game as internal decisions are made in real time. On Tuesday, April 30, we are ending Season 3. We are also shutting down South America servers at that time. This will consolidate our Americas player base on North America, speeding up queue times and ensuring Z1BR's other servers continue to operate for the vast majority of our global community as we lead into next Season. As of this time, we plan to kick off Season 4 on Tuesday, May 14. We also wanted to inform you that we will be unable to host The Showdown. After much deliberation, we determined it's just not realistic for us to put on a massive global event in such a short window of time that will live up to the standard we've set with past Showdowns. However, we're still making sure that every player who would've qualified for Showdown receives their rewards, per their Leaderboards ranking at the end of Season 3: The top 10 players in each region will receive their Showdown placement skin; The top 75 in each region will receive their participant skin; And the entirety of our community will be granted the viewer skin that was promised to them at the beginning of Season 3 We sincerely thank you for your patience as we continue to work through this transition. We will be back with more information as we work towards kicking off Season 4.Z1BR and the Daybreak TransitionApr 9, 2019 - Community AnnouncementsAs many of you saw last Friday, NantG officially announced their decision to transition Z1 Battle Royale back to Daybreak. Like you, we were reacting to that decision in real-time, and are still digesting what that means for the game going forward. That means we don’t have all the answers yet, but we can offer our immediate plans for now until we are ready to share more. We can share today that servers will remain up, that we have no plans to change the name of the game, or make any other big changes that will affect your current Z1BR gameplay experience. Our number one goal throughout this entire transition is to make sure there is minimal disruption to the game’s service. That means you can still expect to receive Z1BR news through existing Z1BR community channels. It also means that we’ll continue to support the game – through hotfixes, live maintenance, other service updates – as our team works to get back up to speed. Z1BR is a game that so many of us here at Daybreak have worked on and supported in myriad ways over the years, and we want to do right by our community. As we work through this transition, we only ask for your continued patience as we prepare our plans for the game’s future.Z1 Battle Royale dropped by new developer, returns to Daybreak GamesApr 8, 2019 - PC GamerThe H1Z1 saga has taken yet another bizarre, confusing twist, as developer NantG Mobile has announced that it is giving up on the newly-renamed Z1 Battle Royale and returning it to original developer Daybreak Games. The studio did not confirm that the change has resulted in layoffs, as reported last week by Massively Overpowered, but said that it "will focus on its core mission of developing mobile games moving forward," and has "refocused our team toward this vision."  A little history probably wouldn't hurt, given all that's happened so far. H1Z1 originally went live on Steam Early Access in 2015, and then split into two games in 2016: H1Z1: Just Survive, the multiplayer survival game, and H1Z1: King of the Kill, a competitive battle royale. The following year, the H1Z1 bit was cut from the first game, leaving it as Just Survive (which was closed in August 2018), while King of the Kill went back to being just H1Z1, and was then rebranded to Z1 Battle Royale last year. And after all that dicking around, we're right back where we started, except with a battle royale instead of a survival game.  "Despite the team’s determination and commitment to revive Z1BR’s player base with our recent Season 3 launch update, we soon realized that the road is still paved with many challenges that preclude us from long-term success, including the confusion it caused by having both NantG Mobile and Daybreak managing the same game under two separate brands," NantG announced on Steam. "Based on these events and the current state of the game, NantG Mobile will focus on its core mission of developing mobile games moving forward, and we have refocused our team toward this vision."  NantG said that Daybreak has committed to keeping the Z1 Battle Royale servers online and continuing development of the game, and that it's working with Daybreak to help ensure a smooth transition. I've emailed Daybreak for more information and will update if I receive a reply. Update: Daybreak has posted a message on Steam saying that it is reacting to NantG's decision to drop Z1BR "in real-time," and thus still formulating its plans for the game's long-term future. "We can share today that servers will remain up, that we have no plans to change the name of the game, or make any other big changes that will affect your current Z1BR gameplay experience. Our number one goal throughout this entire transition is to make sure there is minimal disruption to the game’s service," the studio said. "That means you can still expect to receive Z1BR news through existing Z1BR community channels. It also means that we’ll continue to support the game—through hotfixes, live maintenance, other service updates—as our team works to get back up to speed." "Z1BR is a game that so many of us here at Daybreak have worked on and  supported in myr...A Message from NantG Mobile on Z1 Battle RoyaleApr 5, 2019 - Community AnnouncementsIn the past few months, NantG Mobile has been working feverishly on rebranding Z1 Battle Royale and reverting the game back to its glory days. We’ve since made countless changes to Z1BR in an effort to recapture the moments that once made the game vastly popular and truly unique and special to many of you. Despite the team’s determination and commitment to revive Z1BR’s player base with our recent Season 3 launch update, we soon realized that the road is still paved with many challenges that preclude us from long-term success, including the confusion it caused by having both NantG Mobile and Daybreak managing the same game under two separate brands. Based on these events and the current state of the game, NantG Mobile will focus on its core mission of developing mobile games moving forward, and we have refocused our team toward this vision. We have also decided to hand back the Z1BR torch to Daybreak Games, so that both Z1BR and H1Z1 will be under one publishing umbrella once again. Daybreak Games has agreed to keep the servers up for players and continue live maintenance on the game. During this time period, we don’t foresee any issues of this affecting your experience with Z1BR, as we work with Daybreak on ensuring that the transition process runs as smoothly as possible without any disruption to the game's service. On behalf of NantG Mobile and everyone on the Z1BR team, thank you for all your countless cheers during our entire journey toward “The Return of the King.” We would never have made it this far without your passion, support and invaluable feedback. -NantG MobileGame Update: March 27, 2019Mar 27, 2019 - Community AnnouncementsReticle Blocking Begone Currently there are two situations where your reticle will get blocked, aiming uphill and while crouch strafing, both of which make it extremely difficult to aim. With today's patch we have made the following adjustments that address these issues: Lowered the weapon placement on the back of the character model to prevent weapons from blocking the reticle when aiming up hill. Moved the crouched camera height up to prevent the players head from blocking the reticle when strafing side to side while crouched. Optimizations Made an optimization to how the system handles packet bundling. Players should be seeing an improvement of 5-10 ms in their pings. A few things relating to how the in game HUD animates specific elements are being changed/optimized to increase performance and address possible micro stutters. Applying a change to a system that interacts with the in game UI that should net players some extra frames. FPS gain will vary based upon players hardware. Optimized the in game flora. Bug Fixes Removed vehicle spawners for POIs that no longer exist. (ex: Carnival) Swapped out the H1Z1 logos to Z1 logos on the crates in the background of the "Redeem a Code" menu. Fixed an issue with the wood slats on the back of some 2 story houses where players could get stuck and be unable to move. Fixed the "Prone Blocked" messaging getting stuck permanently on screen. Fixed an issue with the in queue timer overlapping onto the crowns currency in the front end menu. Green text was popping up at the start of the match in the broadcast message. This text color has been corrected to white to match the rest of the messaging that occurs in this system. Fixed: After a team mate died and went into spectate mode their chevron was still visible to the players were still alive. It would show up floating behind whoever the player was spectating. Fixed a bug that was briefly popping the end match screen onto a players screen when they were clicking spectate to watch their team mate who was still alive. After throwing your last grenade, regardless of type, players were being swapped to their fists. This has been changed to use whatever the previous weapon slot the player had active before using the throwable. Fixed an issue preventing the end game screen from showing up in fives matches. Fixed a bug that was making the shot block icon get stuck on screen if you switched to fists while a player was using free look. Various fixes to the messaging on the requirements of a few missions. Fixed an error for a portion of the UI that wasn't switching from English to the localized language for other regions. Audio feedback was not playing when mousing over menu options, this has been fixed. In normal solos at the end of a match the messaging was still telling players they needed to go to Ranked Pro mode to progress. This was a messaging error in the system and has been corrected to show the player how far they have to go to get to the next tier. Cleaned up ...Game Update: March 22, 2019Mar 22, 2019 - Community AnnouncementsWe have a small update going out right now with the following changes: Master and Royalty ranks for solos are no longer locked to the Ranked Pro mode. They have been added back into the standard solos play list. Players will see their rank update after they play their first solo match once the patch is live. Fixed a bug that was preventing bandages from dropping in Ranked Pro mode. Fixed a bug that was preventing players from being able to purchase the in game sale items from the message of the day on the front end menu. Game Update March 13th: Gamers Outreach Charity Event and more!Mar 13, 2019 - Community AnnouncementsHey Guys, Today's patch marks one week since the Season 3 update and the rebrand to Z1 Battle Royale. It has been a crazy week and we are ecstatic to see you all in game and having fun with the new season. The feedback and love shown from all of you in the community has since the patch has been nothing short of heart warming. It has been great seeing all the new and returning players having fun in game and on stream. We have also noticed through the feedback and streams where we can make fixes/improvements/ With the patch came the introduction of many new bugs. Today's patch is targeted at those issues, which you will see as you read through today's notes in the Misc. Updates and Bug Fix categories below. Alongside the bug fixes we also have a world update reintroducing sun reflections to the roads, a new in game item for St Paddy's Day, and a brand new Gamers Outreach Charity Hoodie supporting GamerOutreach.org and their mission. One last rambling before for those that haven't skipped ahead to the notes. We would like to say thank you to everyone who has taken time out of their day at any point to report bugs and issues they have come across to us. The videos, pictures, and steps to reproduce the issues are extremely helpful. They allow us to reproduce the issues much quicker, which in turn allows us to fix them much sooner. For anyone looking to make a bug report in the future drop those reports here (there is also a great guide to the perfect bug report pinned at the top of the forum). SUP3R Do it for the Kids Gamers Outreach is an amazing charity with a great mission. They are doing their annual fundraiser event "Gamers for Giving" this month on March 23rd-24th. The Z1 community has historically has been very active with this charity each year and we knew we wanted to get involved ourselves. You will be able to show your support by picking up the Gamers Outreach Hoodie in game between March 13th and March 25th with all net proceeds from the purchase going to GamersOutreach.org and their cause. If you aren't familiar with them or are looking for more ways to get involved, check out the links below. Gamers Outreach About/Mission: https://gamersoutreach.org/about/our-mission/ Gamers Outreach Project Go-Kart: https://gamersoutreach.org/our-programs/project-go-kart/ Gamers for Giving Event Info: https://gamersoutreach.org/category/events/ https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/11988327/f310cf2f0de03ee4e3f86b80522b3aa225b83643.png Animations: Jump/Strafe The standing jump will be returning to PS3 behavior with longer anticipation, but also allowing movement to occur before leaving ground. Touch ups have also been made to the strafe animations to bring them more in line with PS3 behavior. Note: These changes may require a quick hot fix deploy to enable following the patch. If needed this will occur very shortly following the patch. The Return of Road Shine The shine/glow from the sun on the roads was a big piece of the fe...Client Hotfix March 7th, 2019Mar 7, 2019 - Community AnnouncementsWe have just pushed a hotfix with the following list of changes: UI: The in game HUD should now match the HUD from Solos in Duos and Fives. UI: The Killfeed will no longer start rotating the feed into itself as it gets longer. UI: The Arcade Challenge is no longer available. This should not have been showing up since there is no active Arcade Mode running at this time. UI: The Hotshot Crate confirmation will no longer refer to it as “Premium3 crate”. Weapons: Fixed mismatched M9 refire timing. PS3 timings on the M9 had the ADS fire rate set to a faster refire than hipfire. These timings now match up to PS3 values. Animation: There was an issue occurring with the shoulder animation when firing the AR-15 in ADS. It was skipping the animation on many shots. This issue has been lessened and we will continue to tweak this if the issue continues. UI: When exiting a match in 5s, the camera on the front end menu was focusing on the user’s position rather than the group as a whole. UI: If a player accepts a group invite on the press any key screen, they will no longer receive an erroneous ping lock message UI: Fixed an issue when a player accepts a group invite on the character select screen they will be seen standing in place by other group members. Animation: Ensure empty hand sprint animations are properly playing. UI: The recycle shoes and boots match challenge description was inaccurate. UI: Fixed 3 white backgrounds that were showing up in the front end menu. H1Z1 has relaunched and rebranded to 'Z1 Battle Royale'Mar 6, 2019 - PC GamerH1Z1's third season arrived today, as well as a rebranding to Z1 Battle Royale, marking the third name change the game has undergone (originally, it was called H1Z1: King of the Kill). More than just the name has changed: a new developer, NantG, has taken the helm and is promising to revitalize the game by 'restoring' a number of its old features like animations, vehicle mechanics, guns and combat, and even the map itself to bring it back to "the glory days." It's an interesting strategy, I guess: reverting the game back to how it was during the height of its popularity (and it was extremely popular) and undoing many of the changes fans have disagreed with over the past few years. Nothing seems to have gone untouched, including the UI: "The first thing you see when you launch a game is the loading screens and the front end user interface," the patch notes read. "It is a massive point of nostalgia for players and we knew we had to get it in for this patch." The clock has also been turned back on many of the weapons' recoil, sway, and bullet speed, and the patch even goes so far as to completely remove the 'points of interest' that were added to the map over the past couple years. It also restores the lighting, textures, trees, and roads from the King of the Kill era. Wow. It's like a remaster, but in reverse. A de-master? It's not just old stuff making a return, there's some new stuff as well, like an in-match mission system, new daily and weekly challenges, and more. Is this what H1Z1—er, Z1BR—needs to pull players back in? Well, it peaked at about 13,000 concurrent players today, which is more than the typical 1,500 or so I've been seeing in the past few days. It'll be interesting to see if they stick around. Here's a look at Z1BR's extensive patch notes and Season 3 skins . Season 3: The Return of the King (March 6th Patch Notes)Mar 6, 2019 - Community Announcementshttps://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/11988327/3b092645724df54e550e9d0b6a5066aabf67208c.png A foreword from our General Manager, Anthony Castoro. "Today's patch is huge, not just because it contains tons of content, or that it's the start of the first new Season since early November, or even that the game now has a new name. It's also huge because it represents the first big delivery on the promise that the new NantG team made when it took over development last September: Bring back the game that so many of you fell in love with in the classic "King of the Kill" era around Preseason 3 at the end of 2016 and in early 2017. Since September, the NantG team has been as transparent as possible about our goals and plans and many of you have stuck with us through the challenges of starting a new company, transferring the development and operations of a live game and releasing updates on an almost weekly basis. We want to take this opportunity to thank so many of you for sticking with us and to welcome those of you who are returning, or even just discovering the game for the first time. We're not done! We still plan to address old weapon models, classic in-game UI elements and more. So if you want to keep up with the latest plans go to https://www.z1roadmap.com or join us in the official forums at https://forums.z1.live !" Thank you Anthony. Today's patch is absolutely one of epic proportions as you will all soon see in the massive patch notes below. It has been a crazy ride since making the transition from player to Community Manager and I am ecstatic for you all to get to play this first giant step in the development of Z1 Battle Royale. On behalf of the team I would just like to say "Welcome Home!" Jason "SUP3RSoN1K" Burns Z1BR Community Manager https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/11988327/156a9ffdc88970bef2a588139b187c2cee12f6aa.png User Interface - Rebrand The first thing you see when you launch a game is the loading screens and the front end user interface. It is a massive point of nostalgia for players and we knew we had to get it in for this patch. Upon loading up after updating you will find a very new yet very familiar interface awaiting you. Our UI Programmer recreated the front end UI, menu system, kill feed, and players remain sections of the interface while giving it a bit of an update to accommodate new game systems that you will find out more about further down in the patch notes. Another change you will notice is that the rebrand has occurred, and going forward the game has been renamed to Z1 Battle Royale on all platforms. Twitch, Steam, Twitter, and in game. Along with the rebrand we have brought our new website and forums online. We will be using the forums as a place for players to hangout, discuss the game, conduct polls, and collect feedback from the community as a whole on the current state of the game, future updates, and test server patches. Feel free to hop into the co...H1Z1's Player Base Has Declined by 91% Since PUBG and Fortnite Took OverFeb 20, 2018 - GitHypTowards the end of last year, things looked grim for H1Z1 after a Humble Bundle sale and free weekend on Steam both weren't enough to keep the game’s player base from declining. Back then, the former self-proclaimed "King" of the battle royale genre had already lost a shocking 78% of its players. And with such a large exodus of players in the span of just four months, it didn't seem like anything was going to be able to bring players back. Now, just two months later, H1Z1 has continued its downfall, losing 91% of its players since peaking back in July 2017. [caption id="attachment_330817" align="aligncenter" width="786"] H1Z1's Peak Concurrent Players on Steam via GitHyp[/caption] During its best months, H1Z1: King of the Kill was holding strong as the #3 most played game on Steam with an all-time peak of 150k players and average of 86k players per hour. Today, you’ll find it struggling to crack the top 50 with less than 10k concurrent players most days and a peak of only 14k players so far this month. This February marks the second year that H1Z1's battle royale mode has been in Early Access on Steam. Feedback from what’s left of the community on Steam and Reddit is usually mixed with players blaming the dev’s poor support for the game’s decline. While most players have simply moved on to PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds, Fortnite, and other games. Before the success of H1Z1’s battle royale mode, it was competing with DayZ for players. DayZ never saw its player base spike up while focusing on the zombie survival aspect in Early Access… and at this point, with Daybreak not able to do anything to turn H1Z1 around since our last report, it looks like they’ll be back to going head-to-head with DayZ soon.H1Z1's Player Base is Dying, Down 78% from July, and Not Even a Free Week on Steam is Saving ItDec 22, 2017 - GitHyp2017 started out as a great year for H1Z1. After splitting into two different games back in 2016, H1Z1: King of the Kill’s player base spiked in popularity, leaving its former competition DayZ in the dust. But before the summer started, GitHyp reported that H1Z1 had some new competition. The original creator of the Battle Royale genre, Brendan Greene (aka PlayerUnknown), left the H1Z1 team to bring his own new game to Steam. And in its first week of early access, PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds debuted at #3 on Steam, stealing the top spot from H1Z1 for a few hours. At the time, H1Z1 was still the king holding the #3 position for more hours each day and with much higher player count peaks than PUBG. Despite the intense competition, H1Z1’s battle royale standalone continued to grow, hitting a new all-time peak of 150k concurrent players and averaging 87k players per hour in July. [caption id="attachment_312551" align="aligncenter" width="786"] H1Z1 (formerly H1Z1: King of the Kill) Recent Data Tracked on Steam via GitHyp[/caption] But as the two games continued to battle for players in different time zones, the top streamers on Twitch all started switching from H1Z1 to PUBG and bringing their huge viewer fan bases with them. As many now know, PUBG exploded in popularity over the course of the summer. And PUBG didn’t just beat H1Z1, it beat everyone, becoming the most played game ever on Steam with just shy of 3 million concurrent players. With PUBG’s unprecedented growth, H1Z1: King of the Kill was in trouble. After the summer ended, KotK saw its player base start to take a significant dive, so the developers at Daybreak changed the name back to just “H1Z1” on Steam. But this time, the name change didn't help. Now, just 4 months later, H1Z1 has seen its player counts drop by a shocking 78%. [caption id="attachment_312552" align="aligncenter" width="786"] H1Z1's Average Players per Hour on Steam via GitHyp[/caption] Over this past week, the developers have been holding a free promotion for the game in a desperate attempt to stop the hemorrhaging of players. A smart move, which games like Payday 2, Battlerite, and Rainbow Six: Siege have all successfully used in the past year to turn around their declining player bases. Sadly, going f2p doesn't always work -- as we've also seen the past year with Battleborn and Evolve. And in H1Z1's case, it might be too little too late as PUBG leaves early access. Even after completely removing the barrier to entry, H1Z1 is still averaging under 20k players per hour in December – which is down from 21k players this same time last December. With how much money Daybreak has made with H1Z1, it’s unlikely that the game will be going the way of other failed survival games any time soon. But as H1Z1 players continue to abandon ship and the market becomes over-saturated with PUBG clones, things are looking pretty grim in 2018 for the former king of the battle royale genre.H1Z1: King of the Kill’s Playerbase Has Risen 1000% in the Past Six MonthsMar 14, 2017 - GitHypOver the past year, many popular new releases have suffered huge drop-offs in players after record-breaking launches. That hasn’t been the case with H1Z1: King of the Kill. After a somewhat troubled first six months, the battle royale standalone has seen a 1000% increase in players and now ranks as high as #3 on Steam behind Dota 2 and CS:GO. One year ago, developer Daybreak Games split H1Z1 into two separate $19.99 games and the new H1Z1: King of the Kill standalone started with an average of 15k players per hour. But after a strong start, over the course of its first six months on Steam, King of the Kill saw its playerbase decline by half. With players at an all-time low, Daybreak made the controversial decision to keep the game in early access. Instead of launching in September 2016, a major update was released featuring Twitch integration, regional servers, character wipes, and tweaks to the UI and in-game currency. Surprisingly, that move by Daybreak became the catalyst for H1Z1’s comeback. [caption id="attachment_249888" align="aligncenter" width="770"] H1Z1: King of the Kill's Peak Concurrent Players via GitHyp[/caption] Back in early September of last year, H1Z1: King of the Kill was struggling to break 10k concurrent players on the weekends. And despite still being in early access with both recent and overall ratings on Steam being mixed, in the past six months, King of the Kill’s playerbase has risen by 1000%. And things just keep getting better and better for the King. Over this past weekend, the game reached its highest numbers yet with an average of 72,816 players per hour. During its record-setting weekend, King of the Kill also broke 100k concurrent players for the first time ever with a new all-time high of 110,109 players in a single hour. Such a massive spike in players would usually be the result of a heavy discount or switching to the free-to-player model, but aside from a few sales, H1Z1: King of the Kill is still selling for the same $19.99 price point that the game launched at. [caption id="attachment_249887" align="aligncenter" width="770"] H1Z1: King of the Kill's Peak Concurrent Viewers via GitHyp[/caption] H1Z1’s popularity on Twitch has reflected the numbers on Steam with viewer counts also rising and falling at the same rate. King of the Kill started on Twitch with around 15k viewers per hour back in February 2016. Viewership then dropped to 5k per hour back in September before the game’s big update. And recently, H1Z1 has been doubling its initial averages at over 30k viewers per hour and hit a new peak in February with 89k concurrent viewers. Before H1Z1’s split, it had been competing with the open world zombie survival game, DayZ. On Saturday, H1Z1’s other half, the survival-based standalone 'Just Survive' pulled in another 4,881 players per hour (down from its first weekend of 11k pph). Meanwhile, DayZ had just slightly more players with 5,652 pph (down from its peak of 18k pph back in June 2016). Comparing the player counts of the three games leaves no question that Daybreak’s controversial decision to keep H1Z1 in early access and split the IP into two separate games was the right move to make. While DayZ is still winning the fight against Just Survive for the dying zombie survival genre it helped create, H1Z1 has clearly won the battle with King of the Kill by focusing on the new battle royale genre that has spawned a much larger fanbase. Editor's Note: This article originally stated that the playerbase had gone up by 90% in the first six months when in fact it had risen by 1000%.

Meta