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H1Z1 Infecting Early Access In Mid-January
Our PC editor, Dan Tack, has been able to play SOE's zombie MMORPG H1Z1 a couple of times now, and soon you'll be able to enter the nightmare yourself. Company president John Smedley has provided a release date for the game's Steam Early Access rollout, as well as further details about what you can expect to see if you join in mid-January.
According to a Reddit post Smedley made, the Early Access release date is January 15, 2015. That's a longer wait than people have been expecting. Why the delay? Smedley says it comes down to needing time for polish. "The simple answer is once we saw what we could have had earlier it wasn't good enough and we wanted to put something out that we would be proud of," he wrote. "What you'll be playing January 15th is a really fun game, but it's early. It's everything Early Access should be - a fun and compelling game that isn't finished. Our goal is to have you help us finish it and have it be a game we can build a large community in over time.
"Is it going to be a finished game? Absolutely not. If that's what you're expecting, DO NOT BUY EARLY ACCESS. The goal here is to let you in early and help us mold it into a game you want to be a part of for quite a long time."
Our Take
I probably sound like a broken record, but I'd rather wait to play a game when it's ready than experience something that's been rushed out. This seems like a mix of both, actually. I'm glad to see they're taking the time to ensure the game is fun (a pretty low bar, really), but I'd rather wait until a game is done done before spending any money on it.
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