DayZ, Bohemia Interactive’s multiplayer survival live-service title, is nothing if not a cult classic. Typical survival game elements likecrafting form the backbone ofDayZ, but the game’s lack of polish and at-times brutal difficulty can make it a tough sell for many players. Nevertheless, it has fostered a dedicated core fanbase, which is what has kept it alive for all these years.
But that same fanbase, at least in part, seems to be turning onDayZin the wake of itsFrostlineDLC.Frostline, which arrived back in October, promised to deliver a fresh take on the base game’s central gameplay loop, putting players in a new environment with distinct gear, wildlife, and mechanics to engage with. Fundamentally,Frostlineis somewhat similar toDayZ’s Livonia map expansion from 2019, in that its main selling point is the new environments that players can explore, which aim to recontextualize the mostly untouched gameplay. For some players, this will be enough, but for others, Bohemia Interactive is asking a bit too much for content that isn’t meaty enough.
DayZ’s Frostline DLC Is Getting an Ice-Cold Reception
Frostline’s Price Point Has Struck a Nerve Within DayZ’s Playerbase
On Steam, theFrostlineDLC is currently sitting at a wickedly low “Mostly Negative” rating, with most of the reviews citing the price-for-content ratio as their main criticism.Frostlineis currently retailing for $27 USD, making it just over half the price of the base game. For those that view price as a direct indicator of the promised breadth of a game’s content, $27 indicates a beefier final product than whatFrostlineturned out to be, as its biggest difference from the base game is the new terrain and environment. The fact that players have to purchase the $50DayZbase game to playFrostlineobviously doesn’t help its case, as it brings the total price tag to just under $80 for the complete experience.
Is the Criticism of DayZ’s Frostline DLC Justified?
Bohemia Interactive CEOMark Spanel recently took to Twitterto defend the studio against the contentious narrative surroundingFrostline’s price tag. He specifically cites the work that Bohemia Interactive has put in over the years toupkeep and expandDayZ, pointing out that the game has been played for an average of 188 hours, and that $27 for an expansion is therefore a fair asking price. Naturally, these comments sparked a number of heated responses, with gamers pushing back against Spanel’s claims and doubling down on criticisms ofFrostlineand its dearth of content.
Spanel’s comments were civil and fair in many ways, but they, perhaps unsurprisingly, only stoked the flames of criticism from theDayZfanbase.Frostlinedoes indeed add more than just surface-level elements toDayZ, as the new environments introduce different diseases and hazards unique to the DLC, and bigger features like boats have the potential to dramatically change the game, so those claiming that it’s a mere asset flop or cash grab are perhaps a bit out of line. There is definitely an argument to be made that $27 for a DLC ofFrostline’s scope is reasonable.
Releasing during the same year as theunbelievably largeShadow of the ErdtreeDLCprobably didn’t doFrostlineany favors when it comes to the price-for-content argument.
At the same time, a product is really only worth what consumers are willing to pay for it; it’s not necessarily up to the creator of the product to determine how “fair” a price is, regardless of the strength of their reasoning. And while Spanel’s point aboutBohemia Interactive’s maintenance ofDayZover the years is accurate, it’s also rather irrelevant, as audiences aren’t paying for these patches. When a game developer charges for something, then there is a higher expectation of quality and substance.
DayZ
WHERE TO PLAY
DayZ is a hardcore survival game where players must strive to endure a post-apocalyptic world populated by frenzied infected and other survivors. DayZ includes the original Chernarus terrain, and the Livonia terrain.Chernarus – The iconic DayZ terrain, set in the post-soviet state of Chernarus and encompassing 230 km2 of hand-crafted environment based on real life locations.Livonia – The dense 163 km2 map lets players experience the hardcore survival hit in a whole new environment. Players can put their survival skills to the test by venturing into the unfamiliar land of Livonia, and seeing just how long they can last in this deadlier-than-ever world.
