We may earn a commission when you buy through links in our articles. Learn more.

Why not Everest first: DayZ’s Rocket already planning mountaineering game

DayZ

Dean ‘Rocket’ Hall recently took two months out of developing DayZ’s standalone version to mount Everest, as it were, and we all breathed a sigh of relief when he came back down again. But what’s that he’s clutching in one frostbitten claw? Surely not a design doc?

“Mountain climbing’s my next game, I think,” says he. “I wrote a design while I was up there, but I need to get DayZ done first.”

In an interview with RPS, Rocket admitted that he was getting pretty tired of zombies: “That’s why I’m doing a mountaineering game next.”

It’s a surprise. But if anything, it’ll be more a variation on a survivalist theme Rocket’s been playing for years than a true break from form.

“I don’t think DayZ’s actually a zombie game,” he said. “It’s a survival game with zombies. I think there’s room for us. We’re really pushing into the survival aspect of it. I think that’s what people want. The zombies are a good antagonist, so we’re using them. But it’s really a survival game.”

Rocket said that DayZ, too, benefitted from his time among the clouds.

“I’ve been working on DayZ [almost non-stop],” he explained. “It blew up in April of last year and went supernova in June. Those were long days, ever since then. I needed a break. I know Everest doesn’t sound like time off for some people, but it gave me good perspective.

“I came back with even more perspective about taking a climb and making DayZ a good game, even if we lose fans. Even if it displeases people, it’s much better to displease them by being late than displease them by making a shitty game.”

No word yet on whether he’ll make this game at Bohemia or elsewhere – but given the studio’s most recent announcement, it’s not too hard to imagine the studio making room in the ‘Take on…’ series for Rocket’s vision.

What do you imagine a mountaineering game to look like, anyway?