It’s not uncommon to see a game being brought into the public eye as an early access game that is then built up from there. Minecraft is a perfect example, it had been released in 2009 as a pre-alpha until 2010 where its first major release made it shift into the alpha phase. Now, it’s DayZ’s time to shine as it goes from an alpha to a beta.

First released in 2013 as an Arma 3 mod, DayZ had never left its alpha phase. The game was a survival horror game. The player’s goal is to survive in a post-apocalyptic world infested with zombies. They also made sure it wasn’t as easy as hiding away in a building as hunger and thirst diminish over time. You also have to worry about catching illnesses and not having the proper medicine.

DayZ was had become a highly successful game despite its early alpha stages. After five years of development, the developers have finally made the decision to leave behind the alpha stage and begin with the beta. With this decision means further features that were promised may not be released until next year after the beta releases.

The update will be freely distributed to all consoles that they released DayZ. No exact date has been set, but they aim to have it out by January 2019. You can play DayZ on PC and Xbox One, they also plan to release it onto PS4 in the future.