DayZ creator angry about The War Z
By
Eddie Makuch, News Editor
Dean Hall says he is "quite hurt personally" over confusion regarding Hammerpoint Interactive's controversial zombie game.
DayZ creator Dean Hall has spoken out against controversial zombie game The War Z, which features numerous similarities to Hall's game. Writing on Reddit, he explained that the consumer confusion surrounding both games has left him "quite personally hurt."
"I am angry about The War Z. I'm very angry," Hall said. "I'm quite hurt personally because anyone can see how similar the words are, and while the average gamer knows the difference individual people don't. I've had family members/close friends mistake the difference and confront me about what they believed was unethical behavior they thought I was making."
Hall further explained that he has bet his livelihood and reputation on DayZ, which is now at stake given the events surrounding The War Z.
"I really don't think anyone can understand just quite how exasperated that can make you feel when you've gambled everything on something, put your whole self and reputation on the line," he said. "So it hasn't made my life very pleasant and I disagree entirely with the conduct and how consumers have been treated."
This is not the first time Hall has spoken his mind about The War Z. In December, Hall said the controversy surrounding The War Z has left him "depressed," noting he contemplated quitting game development altogether because of it.
Controversy surrounding The War Z came to light upon the game's release through Steam in December. Users quickly began reporting numerous issues with The War Z. Further, many players criticized the game and developer Hammerpoint for being misleading and for censoring their comments about issues with the game. The game has since been pulled from Steam.
GameSpot's recent review of The War Z found it to be a "complete disaster."
As for Day Z, Hall and his team are currently working on a standalone version of the zombie game to be published by Bohemia Interactive in 2013 for PC.
By
Eddie Makuch, News Editor
Eddie Makuch (Mack-ooh) is a News Editor at GameSpot. He works out of the company's Boston office in Somerville, Mass., and loves extra chunky peanut butter.
335 comments
Okay, what I find extremely hilarious here is the amount of stupidity on some of these comments. "Oh he should sue." Seriously? He can't, bottom line. And people getting so torn up over how "similar" the games are, get over it. If game developers started fighting and crying about how another developer's game is just like theirs and wanted to give up on creating games, then we wouldn't have anything to play. Some common examples; WoW, Guild Wars, Rift, Terra, Elder Scrolls Online. Yes, they have different stories, characters, etc, but the core game, is the same basic concept. Look at games like Fable, Kingdoms of Amalur, Witcher, Gothic. Different stories, but same core game play. Racing games, Forza and Gran Turismo. The truth is, in the gaming industry, there will always be competition in the form of another game that is similar to one game. I have played both DayZ and WarZ. Yes, their are A LOT of similarities, but they both did have a different feel to them. This is where we have a problem in society. People need to stop getting so upset when someone brings another product, idea, whatever to the table. I'm not defending either developer, or either game, I'm just pointing out the level of absurdity this is raising. Good Day! (imagine that being said in the voice of Gene Wilder as Willy Wonka.)
I've not paid much attention to what's been going on with War Z, but I have to say, fuck those guys. Seriously. Day Z came first and when it's released as a standalone it'll be fantastic. The War Z was such a petty attempt to steal the fame from someone who bloody well deserved it! The time and effort being put into Day Z is worth the wait, rather than jumping into some terrible knock off.
1 Like Fuck the war Z. i knew it was going to be shit the second they started riding Day Z's coattails.
3 Like Is anyone else sick to death (haha, word play!) of zombies???? I mean, Resident Evil 5 was the last zombie game I played and it was most likely the last, as it sucked SO bad.... seriously, playyyyyyyed OOOOOUUUUTTTTTT. If you don't get the metaphor of zombies... you are probably much closer to being a zombie than you think.....
@quantumtheo The only zombie fiction I give a crap about anymore is Walking Dead. I'm at the point where a game developer would have to pay me if they want me to play their generic zombie game for even one second.
2 Like Trust in us gamers, dude. We can tell the difference. And your family and friends should know better.
@Djlampton That's not true. Other than the naming scheme they don't share much in common at all. Completely different zombie types also.
I can understand about creator of dayZ being troubled, about his mod getting a bad name, Hammerpoint has named the game very close to Day Z's name, and has jumped on the bandwagon of Day Z's sucsess, but anyone who has been gameplay of the 2 let alone played it, will know the differences right away... ppl who haven't, may get the 2 confused... which is sad
I'm just waiting until a creditable company decides to cash-in on this fad and make a respectable survival horror MMO. With how popular The Walking Dead is right now, its only a matter of time before we see "The Walking Dead Online." Mark my words.
@SpardisJX I agree there will be a walking dead online, I would not be suprised, honestly, but how can an online game live up to the shows quality, the telltales games, style, or the comicbooks take on the zombie apocalypse? i think that's why we haven't seen a walking dead online cause there's a lot to live upto, and surpass, But that's just me...
@NinjaMaddy It doesn't matter how creative you are if someone just comes by and gives their project a deceptively similar name. It's really just scumbags at work.
theres even the film War Z with brad pit in it. there are so many titles out there that your gonna get similar titles but Day Z and War Z are too close for comfort especialy if you want yours to stand out and were the first to come up with the name. Id be a little peed off.
He does know that he can sue the makers and can possibly get the game removed entirely doesn't he?
2 Like @Ilikemyname420 He can't because Day Z is a free third-party mod to an unrelated game (ARMA2). He should have sought legal advice much earlier and arranged patents or whatever was appropriate.
@Ilikemyname420 War Z was in development over a year before the Day Z was even released... people don't understand that the War Z existed before Day Z, it just has the misfortune of not being announced until later.
you seriously need to do your research before claiming such dribble. There is plenty of proof that they started dev in january 2012. right when Day became popular. They did however have the idea for a more linear npc filled game written down on a beer stained bar napkin as far back as two years ago.
2 Like There are 2 problems with WarZ
1. Game was NO WHERE NEAR ready to be released, it should still be in Alpha... but they jumped the gun to try to muscle their way ahead of the game.
2. The developers lack of respect and truthfulness.
======
WarZ has a bad review because it's not done, it's nowhere near being done... it's still being developed (go look at the patch for January 22, 2013) ... these are things that should have been in there before the game is in Beta! Let alone a damn release version... this is why it got a 2.0 rating... NOT because it sucks... because you can do MORE in WarZ than you can in DayZ, so as it stands... WarZ should be reviewed higher than the simply DayZ mod which I'd give a 1.0 if it were an actual standalone game.
What we need to realize is WarZ is actively being worked on, and new things are being implemented every month. If by the end of 2013 it's still a 2.0 game, then fine... But they are deserving of the 2.0 review, because they jumped the gun, and it's their stupid mistake which they'll never admit.
======
DayZ is fun, WarZ is fun... but it's not epic fun. It's entertaining for a while... just very limited.
======
As it stands... the best thing would be to go look at "State of Decay" which will be released on XBLA and PC ... play it, and wait for their "State of Decay 2" or "Class 4 (codename)" from Undead Labs, they are pretty much the only ones that know what they are doing... Everything from keeping your group interested in staying alive and not commiting suicide... to gardening, machining ammo, and much much more...
www.undeadlabs.com
yes but this will have npc's in it. Which is awesome, but not the same as what Day Z SA will be bringing to the table. I will play both honestly. Also state of decay is single player and more about goofy cartoon fun. Class 4, there soon to be attempt at an mmo will be multi-player but if it is still cartoony and goofy fun then I would play Day Z SA more.
2 Like Cheer up Dean Hall, I have a can of beans that you started me off in the game that I could a give you. Beans! Beans! The magically food. The more you eat, the more you toot!
Change it to DayV where everyone shoots vampire instead! That would be original and has never been done before ..... Oh ... wait ...
1 Like awwwww.....poor baby disappointed....cant he like change the name of his game to something like 'DayZ: its not The WarZ but just another zombie shooter among so many other zombie shooters'....might clear up the confusion.....
Omg what a bunch of over-hyped pretentious narcissistic bull coming from the game's author. Compared to War Z, Day Z looks like complete crap, just as the original game Arma II. The mod is Free, meaning that the authors should not be making money on it, meaning that a similarly titled game should bring them more interest and should not affect their profit margin. BECASUE they don't have ANY !!! Am I the only one who thinks that all of this is just hype used to generate marketing and profits for this ugly game?
2 Like @sinistery Day Z is so much better than War Z I cant even put it in words. Have you even played them both? Day Z does have crap graphics, but if you're an actual gamer you'll understand that graphics isnt everything. There's a reason War Z has such terrible reviews and a reason why Day Z is massively popular. Day Z>War Z. Get over it. And the mod IS free but Arma II is NOT, so they are still making a profit from the purchases of Arma II. Doesnt take many braincells to realise that.
You miss the point entirely. First off, This is Dean's baby. Something he made out of love for an idea he had. He now has a chance to turn his love into something he can pay the bills with. The American dream. Secondly when another Publisher tries to rip off his idea and then ruin people's interest in the newly found genre by lying, cheating and breaking the law...yeah he has the right to get upset. This could potentially harm the success of his project by guilt through association. Thirdly, War Z graphics are terrible. That a universal understanding amongst all that have played it. From cheap water tricks, to terrible textures. Day Z mod is using an old engine so the textures are rough but at least it is presented well. The world feels real. Not like the haphazard (slapped together while beta testing the game) world that War Z offers. War Z gives Day Z a bad name. In fact they give all indie devs a bad name. They should be black listed from the industry.
@Animal_Mutha100 @sinistery This is true. and it is very obvious that if DayZ hadn't existed then The War Z wouldn't either. I initially thought both titles had something interesting to bring to the table, but now i refuse to even acknowledge the war z since they have been so dishonest. It's a shame really, and quite amazing that The War Z messed up such an easily obtainable fanbase. I can also relate to the Day Z guy. If that we're me id want to throttle the people that tried so hard to rip off a huge project of mine.
@Animal_Mutha100 @sinistery that's the problem, not many people have a decent brain cell count
5 Like There are really too many negative comments for me to reply to each one explaining the weight of the insults that are so easily thrown towards this guy. You guys should all be ashamed of yourselves. Imagine if this happened to a friend of yours, or even worse you, how differently would you react? A company swooping in and stealing your idea to make a quick buck, with no one in mind but themselves (War Z does not care for its players, it is hacker filled and with a scam of a micro-transaction shop) should not be seen as just another day in the gaming world. This is a guy who made a mod that was inspired by his real life encounters in the New Zealand Army, and gamers have distanced themselves from the idea that games are an art, and their developers artists. Hammerpoint had no right to steal Hall's idea, and I don't know how they would sleep at night if their product was the reason of any negative views towards either Day Z or Dean Hall himself. The fact that they have done this and the gamers that Dean Hall was proud to consider himself a one of, are taking the side of the corporation that took his art and slapped a different name on it, lazily put together a clone game, and sold it. I hang my head in disgrace to know I came from the same gaming community you guys are a part of.
Totally agree. Of course Sergey Titov has this reputation. Look at his other games, Big Rigs and War Inc.
4 Like @Orkk bro i am agreed 100%. Shame on people that don't understand the facts. They stolen the idea with no creativity only to get quick bucks and without thinking how the other party will effected and miss used.
3 Like I really hope everything works out for this guy, as gamers have not seen such a unique and great mod like this since DotA, and we've seen what money grubbing developers have done to that genre. I'll be waiting to buy the standalone game, I just hope it gets that far. Also, I see that a rather upsetting amount of people that comment and speak on behalf of this game or its rival, have really not played either game..
Please keep the hate and insults like "boohoo crybaby" out of these conversations. Is this what our culture of gaming has come to?
Aren't both of these games plagued by player camping issues and micro-transaction fleecing? I just don't see the appeal for either in their current state...
@sadscooterpipe The fact that you think Day Z is plagued by microtransactions just proves this article's point.
what in the world is this guy even doing here? If you know that little then please go play war Z. then Play Day Z. then come back when your edified.
3 Like @sadscooterpipeThere is no micro-transaction system in DayZ. I feel really terrible for Rocket, he is betting the farm on this game, but it seems like the whole world is against him. Personally, if there is a tiered pricing model I will be paying the highest price. The guy deserves everything he gets once this game is out.
@Merrick362 @sadscooterpipe Yeah i would also support it. in fact, I have faith that the Day Z community will hold true and stay faithful to it, rather than get tricked into the War Z.
OH WOE IS ME..... ffs get a backbone dude.
tired of seeing articles about this guy bitching about the war z. he is probably getting paid a fairly large sum to head up the day z project for bohemia, so he just needs to suck it up and stop being a baby. if he cant take this level of scrutiny he really does need to leave game development. what will happen when he makes his first "poor" game? will he kill himself?
1 Like @Geminon What if i stole an idea from you and then sale it and get more money then you. Now tell me who deserves for awards and for money? me or you. You ignorant
5 Like @Geminon There is really nothing good to say about this comment, please reconsider this absurd view of yours.
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- Publisher(s): Bohemia Interactive
- Developer(s): Dean 'Rocket' Hall
- Genre: Action
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