DayZ

Hey Survivors,

The 1.29 Road to Badlands update has officially landed across all platforms!

Just to recap the Experimental Article: Road to Badlands is not merely a pit stop to address technical issues. It’s a** regular-sized update**. In essence, we are **utilizing the summer update window to bring assets from DayZ Badlands to the community ahead of time. So there aren’t just the usual bug fixes. There’s brand new content **to enjoy! Here’s what you can look forward to in the Road to Badlands update:

• SCR-17 Battle Rifle (with additional Black variant for Sakhal)

• 2 Buttstocks and a magazine for SCR-17

• Holo Sights

• Tanker Helmets

• Military Caps

• Brass Knuckles and a special new variant

• Nasdara Military Convoy on Chernarus and Livonia

• Desert Camo variants for Combat Backpack and Plate Carrier Vest

If you want to learn more about some of these assets, we discussed them in detail in the experimental article. Here are the patch notes for (http://tinyurl.com/52bt32ew).

There are also a few things we didn’t go over in that article. The most notable of these is the knuckle duster with the word "Friendly" engraved on it. This was done in collaboration with our friends at AWE me and Man at Arms: Reforged, a collective of blacksmiths and craftsmen who re-create various weapons from pop-culture and gaming. Check out their amazing channel and Man at Arms: Reforged series on YouTube if you haven’t! And stay tuned for **the recreation of the "Friendly" brass knuckle! In addition, along with the Nasdara convoys, we’re also introducing the female variant of the infected soldier **since there has generally been a lack of variety in that regard.

For our dedicated Experimental players, you might remember us** testing a unique Central Economy setup back in April of last year**. The original intention for this was to get a perspective on what loot and flow for Nasdara will look like, but also to emphasize survival elements of our other maps. With 1.29, we will be implementing some of those changes we made back then to our live environment. We are hoping the changes will slightly slow down the gameplay and bring more focus on resource management and general character upkeep. This should result in more importance being placed on how you loot areas early after you spawn.

We have also adjusted where players are able to find certain guns and rifles. While players can still expect to find them at their usual locations, like hunting camps or military bases, there should be** more intent to their placement now.** Rather than having a choice of firearms, players might have to** work with what they find**. Other gear, like vests and helmets, has also been made rarer to reflect this change. You might also start finding items at locations where you did not previously. Some examples of this could be some weapons/firearms now spawning exclusively around farms, and NBC items spawning outside of only** Medical Centers, Fire Stations, and high-tier military areas.** We recognize** these changes might be significant to some of you, **so please share your feedback with us on our new feedback tracker, as we are more than keen to make changes and adjustments in the future.

As with all roads, we hope this Road to Badlands will lead us to its destination: the eventual release of DayZ Badlands. The question is "when?" We would like to** announce the release window for DayZ Badlands** and we have prepared another teaser for it. Stay tuned as we’ll be airing it tomorrow on Convergence Indie Showcase at 20:00 CEST. Keep in mind that this is still a release window. We'll confirm the exact date later on down the line. Meanwhile, Dev Blog 5 for DayZ Badlands will be dropping on July 17th, so definitely stay tuned for that as well.

Some of you may already know that we** invited a selection of community leaders and content creators** to Prague for various activities, including a LAN party to try out DayZ Badlands. So if you need more info on DayZ Badlands, you may pester the creators in the image below. Thank you to all who visited us here. It was a blast to see you! Shout out to (https://www.twitch.tv/hollyrex), (https://www.twitch.tv/slexify), Fresh Spawns John, Fresh Spawns George, (https://www.twitch.tv/happybombs), (https://www.youtube.com/@WOBO), (https://www.twitch.tv/therunningmanz), (https://www.twitch.tv/soursweet), (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCkmbH5C4teuvkZqCEzHqRWg), (https://www.twitch.tv/m1ndr). (Not in the photo) (https://www.youtube.com/@JLKgg),[ Kaitiac](https://www.twitch.tv/kaitiac), (https://www.twitch.tv/lottie). (https://www.twitch.tv/ladyadventure_), (https://www.twitch.tv/geekfps_), (https://www.twitch.tv/toperec), (https://x.com/PlayguyOfficial), 9TSIXTH, and (https://www.youtube.com/@MB93).

We’d like to thank you, the general community, as well for your unwavering support and infinite patience. Working on Nasdara has been an immersive experience (with the European heatwaves), and we’re so excited for you to see DayZ Badlands.

Please wishlist it if you haven’t already.And please stay safe and hydrated!

On behalf of the DayZ Team, Lynn

P.S. Enjoy the teaser for the update!

Greetings Survivors,

Update 1.29 is now live on all platforms. Thank you for your patience throughout the extended experimental phase and the delays. Originally planned as a smaller release, it grew into a broader update that adds new assets and tackles long-standing technical debt, including major improvements to server stability and performance. Let us give you a refresher on what update 1.29 has to offer. Find the full patch notes (https://forums.dayz.com/topic/266379-stable-update-129/).

One interesting improvement is our work on terrain blending. Up until this update, Sakhal suffered most from a lack of this feature, producing blocky textures between terrain transitions that unfortunately made things less immersive. That is no longer the case. It’s important to note that the reason this wasn’t as big of an issue in Livonia or Chernarus is because of the abundance of thick foliage and the lack of varied terrain. Sakhal, however, with its general lack of foliage and more varied terrain, demanded a new method of blending detailed terrain surfaces. This will be the same for Nasdara, where there should be even less foliage than on all existing maps.

Our audio team finally completed the firearm sound overhaul, this time focusing on all automatic rifles and pistols. This is a tremendous feat for our audio team, and a hurdle that needed to be cleared, since it’s something that has been in our backlog for a while. It was definitely a worthwhile task, as it should provide a nuanced and fresh start for those who have learned the sound of firearms from afar as a meta gameplay element. Speaking of which, based on your feedback, we increased the types of firearms you can identify, and extended the audibility of firearms to beyond 100 meters. Although the previous change was justified as making it more immersive (since, in reality, sounds often become muddled by echoes), we decided to keep the subtle differences in sound in order to cherish the community’s unique approach to the game. We also fixed a bug that affected the range of shooting sounds indoors, and made sure they now match the range of shooting sounds in outdoor environments.

Aside from the technicalities, update 1.29 still offers a great amount of content, especially to DayZ Frostline. In order to prepare you for your run in Sakhal, we are introducing** the largest pack of winter-themed character cosmetics** ever: coats, boots, sweaters, and more. We also added a high-tier gear item - the** long-haul backpack - which we’re certain will become a favorite of yours. To match the wolf headdress that came with Sakhal, we have also added a bear headdress and a fox headdress**. The latter is craftable with the fox pelt and a leather sewing kit. For the bear headdress, much like the wolf, you’ll simply need to avoid hitting the bear in the head. Good luck with that.

DayZ in 2026

2026 is shaping up to be an important year for DayZ, and we’re ready to talk about the outlines of our plan. DayZ is now more than 13 years old, yet still growing, both in terms of the player base and the game itself. The team has also grown exponentially over the last year, and the game’s reach has expanded to new regions. You can read more about those in the DayZ in 2025 article. As always, our goal for DayZ’s future is to continue expanding and refining DayZ’s core experience for the long run.

What does this mean for 2026? Let’s get into it.

DayZ Badlands: Road to Nasdara

As you may already know, DayZ Badlands is slated to arrive this year. We’re not disclosing which quarter just yet. For now, this year will be a different kind of year compared to previous years (but don't worry, you'll see why). After 1.29, we have planned an additional, relatively minor update to 1.29 later in the year, dubbed "The Road to Badlands Update." This update will serve as a bridge, where you will be able to enjoy a taste of some assets and events from DayZ Badlands prior to its release with 1.30. While plans may evolve along the way, the fact remains that DayZ Badlands is shaping up to be one of the biggest feats we have taken on since 1.0. Here are some of the key focuses for DayZ Badlands:

• Nasdara: **the largest original terrain **we have ever worked on, featuring many new assets

• The first-ever two-wheeled vehicles, including a moped and a dirt bike, along with the physics and mechanics to support them

• Tons of new character cosmetics, assets, and firearms true to the region

• Animals and infected types that are authentic to the setting

• Extreme environmental challenges of an arid desert region

• Dynamic ways to obtain valuable loot (think real-life communication skills that could potentially give you an edge)

• A new take on base building, with new tools and systems that help you repair and reclaim the war-torn landscape

Much like with DayZ Frostline, the base game will also reap the benefits from our work on the DayZ Badlands expansion. Of course, this is only scratching the surface since we are not revealing too much for now. We plan to release in-depth dev blogs starting next week. Wishlist DayZ Badlands Now!

Stability, Stability, Stability

The overall stability of the game remains a top priority. We are hoping update 1.29 brings much needed stability to server performance. It doesn’t end there, of course. We are already on standby to support the update with hotfixes in the coming weeks after the release. Here's the link to the feedback tracker, should you encounter any issues. Of course, we will also be closely monitoring your experience and will continue making improvements throughout the year.

Continuing Support for Community Endeavors

As a game that came out of the community, it’s important for us to continue supporting our community. This year, we are looking into making significant improvements to our modding tool workbench.

Seasonal Event Support

We kicked off the first event of the year with the Valentine’s Event, and we hope it brought much needed chaos to the stable servers. We do plan to expand on this event in the coming years, so make sure to submit your suggestions through the official channels. You can expect all the seasonal events this year. That means Walpurgis, Halloween, and Christmas!

2026 is bound to be yet another interesting and major year for us. We’d like to show you more, but where’s the fun in that? We will be utilizing the DayZ Badlands dev blog to slowly roll out what we have in store for you. The dev blogs will run every month starting from the coming week. We are sure you’ll like what you’re going to see.

We sincerely thank and appreciate you all for your infinite patience and continued support.

Enjoy the teaser, and let’s have yet another fantastic year of DayZ!

On behalf of the DayZ team, Lynn

Greetings, Survivors! We are happy to announce that game update 1.28 has been released on all platforms. We are grateful for all the feedback we received and for your active participation in the experimental phase.

We’ve known since the launch of DayZ Frostline that Sakhal needed more dynamic elements. This time we were able to add a few. Once you spawn at the coast, for example, you may be able to spot some** grounded fishing and military patrol boats**, which will make you wonder what may have spawned there. Through your travels down the major roads of Sakhal, you may also find the wrecks of ambulances offering basic medical supplies - if you can fight the infected who are hanging around, that is. Survivors exploring Shantar Island and the Burukan peninsula may hear (or even see) the familiar signs of helicopter crash sites. They offer different kinds of loot compared to the surroundings, and also disrupt the usual routes, making new areas temporarily more dangerous. We definitely recommend giving Sakhal another try. Just think twice before taking a bath in one of the hot spring areas. Something is certainly brewing in there now!

We know how close the subject of firearms is to many of you. Since it’s been a while, we decided to pick related topics from our backlog and implement them in this update. First of all, we are introducing two new firearms. The first is the new king of shotguns - the semi-automatic R12, complete with a wide range of attachments. Secondly, there’s the return (for legacy players) of the RAK 37: a submachine gun that’s fed by 15 or 25 round magazines of .380.

We also have three new scopes to spice up the ranged meta. The new king of scopes is certainly the** Marksman scope,** followed closely by a new variant of the PSO scope, the** PSO-6**. Hunting scopes got a lot rarer because we’re introducing lower magnification Sportpoint sights. We’ve also introduced damage states to the scope overlays, the ability to have illuminated reticles in those overlays, and also improved the visuals of the rangefinder overlay. Additionally, our audio department has introduced another large batch of firearm audio changes, this time for all non-automatic rifles. We also finally completed an iteration of the firearm lifting mechanic. It now has a new state of pullback, meaning the firearm doesn’t instantly go up the moment it touches an obstacle.

A third important piece of this game update is tied to cars. We made** a fundamental change to the way the cars are synchronized** between the client and server. The goal was to make the driving experience more pleasant, allowing you to keep things under control, even during high latency conditions. Vehicle bouncing and a floaty feel should no longer be present during your driving. The experimental car servers were invaluable in verifying these changes in a live environment, and we certainly enjoyed watching all of the content that was created from these. The reception to this change was positive overall, and we hope you’re going to like it.

Speaking of cars, our audio department looked at** engine audibility from inside, around, and from a distance.** The goal was for players to be able to communicate easier when sitting inside the vehicles, while also making sure the vehicles are more audible from a distance.

This article can’t cover every new addition, change, and fix in update 1.28. If you’d like to learn more about everything that’s new, head to our official forums and read the change notes.

We hope you enjoy this update and look forward to seeing all of the new adventures you have! We’re definitely not slowing down this year, so see you soon with more news on what’s in store! On behalf of the DayZ team, Adam

Hello, Survivors!

We’re thrilled to announce the release of update 1.27!

This is our first stable update of 2025. It marks an important milestone for the year ahead. As with similar updates in the past, this one focuses heavily on stability improvements, bug fixes, and other necessary refinements based on player feedback. But that’s not all. Following the scale of our last update, we couldn’t resist adding a few exciting changes as well!

Those of you who participated in the update’s experimental phase may already be familiar with the improvements we made to DayZ Frostline’s general environment and gameplay mechanics. We revamped navigation across the eastern and southern coastlines, introduced new snowy variants of broken-down houses, and tweaked several important survival mechanics to ensure a fresh and dynamic experience on Sakhal.

Here are some of the most notable additions and improvements in update 1.27:

• New Locations on Sakhal and Improved Map Navigation: The eastern coast is now better populated with expanded cities, villages, and smaller landmarks, while a major new point of interest on Shantar Island introduces exploration opportunities and** a simple new gameplay mechanic**.

• Fishing & Survival Adjustments: Fishing has been rebalanced; it now takes longer with incomplete tools. We also reworked the bloody hands and food poisoning mechanics, with different infections now linked to specific types of animals.

• Customizable Boat Decay System: To prevent boats from accumulating in inaccessible places, we’ve introduced** a boat decay mechanic** which is fully configurable by server owners.

• Expanded Backpack Storage: New tool slots have been added to most backpacks; we've generalized the glowstick and radio slots, allowing for more diverse item usage.

• Sound & Immersion Upgrades:

• Balanced footstep audibility - especially in forests, where stepping on clutter adds an extra layer of environmental depth.

• New character sound effects, including chattering teeth when cold.

• Gunfire sound tweaks for submachine guns, along with reworked bullet cracks.

• New Particle Effects: From snow falling off trees when shaken to vomiting, breath vapor, and bleeding effects, many visual elements have been reworked for added realism and polish.

• There’s still much more to uncover in update 1.27! For a full list of changes, including more audio updates and performance optimizations, we encourage you to visit our official forums, where you’ll find a detailed breakdown in the patch notes.

Wipe News: To maintain a fresh and balanced experience for all players, we will be performing a full wipe on all platforms with the release of update 1.27. This includes all maps and characters. The reset ensures a clean slate and an equal start for everyone as we move forward in 2025.

**DayZ in 2025 ** As we kick off the new year with update 1.27, we also want to give you a glimpse into what’s ahead for DayZ in 2025.

This year will be an important one for DayZ, as we continue our commitment to regular updates while working on some of our most ambitious plans yet. Our focus remains on expanding and refining the core experience, ensuring longevity and continued engagement for long-time players and new survivors alike.

While we don’t want to go into too much detail just yet, here are some of the key areas we aim to explore through our upcoming updates:

• Gunplay refinements – featuring improvements to scopes, new firearms, and weapon handling

• Quality-of-life and performance enhancements – addressing community feedback, bug fixes, and optimizations

• Expanded dynamic events for Sakhal – bringing more variety and unpredictability to the world of DayZ

• A refreshed experience – updates to the main menu interface to improve navigation, news/announcement delivery and accessibility

We have much more in store, and while we’re not ready to reveal everything just yet, we can say with confidence that 2025 will be a major year for DayZ. We appreciate your continued support and look forward to sharing more details as the year progresses

Stay tuned for future updates. And, as always—thank you for surviving with us!

**Events ** We didn’t host a Valentine’s Day event this year, as its timing conflicted with the release of update 1.27. Instead, the next seasonal event will be Walpurgis Night. Looking ahead, you can expect the return of our usual special events, including Walpurgis Night, Halloween, and Christmas —each carefully crafted to enhance your DayZ experience. We’re also exploring the possibility of collaborating on new events with other games.

That concludes DayZ in 2025. We’re enthusiastically anticipating a year filled with remarkable journeys, and we sincerely hope that you will join us in experiencing the continued evolution of DayZ. On behalf of the DayZ team, Scotty