After an alpha period (opens in new tab) we had mixed feelings on and a feature-laden beta update (opens in new tab) , 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 (opens in new tab) 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 (opens in new tab) are in the works for the open-world fester-fest after Foundation's rollout and the beta's addition (opens in new tab) 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 (opens in new tab) as soon as possible.
A forum post (opens in new tab) 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.
