DayZ

DayZ comes from the Czech studio Bohemia Interactive (Prague, the same team that makes the ARMA series). It is the genre's original source: the original mod for ARMA 2 was released in January 2012 and gathered a million players within months. Brendan "PlayerUnknown" Greene names the DayZ mod as the DNA of his PUBG in every interview; Garry Newman said openly, "Rust started as a DayZ clone". The standalone game was released in Early Access (a development mode with open testing) on 16 December 2013 and reached version 1.0 stable on 13 December 2018 after five years of development.

What happens in the game: you wake up on the shore with a flashlight and an empty stomach. You have to deal with hunger, thirst, illness (cholera, poisoning), cold, and other players who can kill you at any moment. Permadeath is strict: if you die, you lose everything and respawn with nothing. This risk is what makes each encounter memorable. Voice chat uses spatial sound (you can hear a whisper in the next room) and is the main tool of social interaction.

The base purchase includes Chernarus (a fictional post-USSR republic, 225 km², Soviet military look) and Livonia (an Eastern European landscape, 163 km², birch forests and slate roofs). Bohemia added Livonia for free for all owners of the game with update 1.25 in May 2024. In total, 388 km² of maps is enough for 500+ hours without additional spending.

The Frostline expansion (Sakhal, October 2024, $26.99 sold separately) received mixed reviews: part of the community accuses Bohemia of reusing assets from the old ARMA 3 and of weak content for the price. Others consider the map, styled after the Russian Far East, a good reason to return after 500 hours on the standard maps. Frostline is an optional purchase for veterans, not a starting investment.

The game actively supports Steam Workshop: through the built-in DayZ Launcher, 1000+ mods are available without a separate installation.

The interface and item descriptions are fully translated into Russian. There is no voice acting by design: DayZ is a survival sandbox without scripted dialogue or cutscenes; voice communication goes through player chat. 461,291 reviews on Steam, rating "Mostly Positive" (78%). The base game is worth buying; the Sakhal expansion only after long familiarity with the base game.

DayZ suits those who like survival with permadeath and want to try the genre's original source. Players who care about a story campaign or predictable progression will most likely not enjoy it, and that is fair: the game does not forgive mistakes and takes time to learn.

The originator of the open-world survival genre (hardcore survival sandbox): 6M+ copies, 460K+ reviews on Steam, a peak of 78,937 concurrent players in October 2024, 11 years after launch. The base game includes two maps: Chernarus at 225 km² and Livonia at 163 km² (free). Death is permanent: every session becomes its own story.