The War Z now available on Steam

After an alpha period we had mixed feelings on and a feature-laden beta update , The War Z shambles onto Steam today. The initial launch is being called a "Foundation Release" by developer Hammerpoint Interactive.

The War Z's Steam page lists three purchasing tiers, with the higher two providing differently-sized piles of the game's cash currency. Hammerpoint Executive Producer Sergey Titov said in the announcement that further features and content are in the works for the open-world fester-fest after Foundation's rollout and the beta's addition of a larger Colorado map, more store items, and clan support.

In a press release, Hammerpoint claims War Z holds more than 600,000 registered accounts and a daily player count of 150,000. And though the studio didn't elaborate on what a Foundation Release actually is—a full launch? A craftily worded post-beta beta?—the speedy transition between testing periods suggests a marked response to Dean "Rocket" Hall's commitment to pushing out a standalone DayZ as soon as possible.

A forum post by Titov confirmed previous purchasers can re-download The War Z through Steam via entering account info on a yet-unreleased conversion page for a Steam key. Titov explained players receive access to Steam Achievements for converting accounts as well as the ability to use their Steam Wallets to purchase in-game store credits.

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Omri Petitte is a former PC Gamer associate editor and long-time freelance writer covering news and reviews. If you spot his name, it probably means you're reading about some kind of first-person shooter. Why yes, he would like to talk to you about Battlefield. Do you have a few days?