DayZ Standalone estimated for 2015, console versions still being discussed

Dean Hall has reiterated that DayZ standalone's beta will not be released until the end of 2014, and a full release may not happen until 2015.

Speaking with Eurogamer, Hall said the game will not likely see a full release until spring or summer 2015 as it's still "alpha as f**k."

"The roadmap [for the beta] is end of the year, but we don't want to release the beta on, like, December 12 or whatever," he said. "The beta date would either be prior to the end of the year, so November or something, or it would be pushed to January or February with more QA.

"It will be a real beta; it will be no new content, just bug fixing. There may be content drops but they won't be part of the beta - there will be no new functionality or something like that. I would be surprised if we go down that route because it will get it unstable. I would imagine it would take as long as it needs from then, which could be six months."

By the time the game is finished, Hall said he thinks it will be a "very different" game than it is currently.

"I think it will be very different," said Hall. "It could even be fundamentally different. As some of these new features come on - even some of the things we introduce now - it suddenly changes the whole way the game's played. We finally got it so that ruined objects don't really work any more; that suddenly changed the way players were behaving. If you shoot someone and destroy their gear, it doesn't work any more. Even little things like that can have profound effects.

"Then you add things like barricading, vehicles, companions, much more advance disease and medical, suturing, all that kind of stuff. We just added heart attacks the other day; it starts to really change the whole nature of the game."

Hall also reiterated he has spoken with Microsoft and Sony on a console version of the game, noting that a decision regarding the systems could be made by the end of the year.

"Whether that means it's being actively developed or released... I'd be surprised if any console port could be developed in 12 months; we haven't fully started developing anything yet for a console," he said, hinting that he saw some "really interesting and exciting things" while at Microsoft he is not at liberty to reveal.

"There were definitely some things they said that I'm not allowed to talk about that I was like, 'Wow! That's interesting. Why don't you tell people that?' But I guess they want to make sure everything all goes together and that," Hall said.

Steam Machines are also being "actively considered," but Hall said he is not sure if he would be "involved" with the consoles and he's "not sure whether" he's want to be either.

"I care a lot about the PC, obviously, and I have nothing against consoles, and there's some really interesting and exciting things happening. That was one of the cool things about meeting with Microsoft," he said. "It's a bit early for me to say whether I'm super-interested in consoles. I would imagine that, at the very least, there would be control and user-interface changes for the consoles.

"People rip on Microsoft and Sony but actually, when meeting with them, they're definitely legitimately interested in DayZ."

Hall announced earlier this week he plans to leave Bohemia Interactive in order to start his own studio and move back to New Zealand by 2015.