More than 10 years after appearing as a Steam Early Access game, 7 Days to Die has finally completed and released version 1.0.
After over a decade of development, survival game 7 Days to Die has announced that it will finally leave early access. This game has become a very popular take on the survival game genre and many gamers may not even realize that this has always been an Early Access game.
When 7 Days to Die was first released in late 2013, it joined a genre that was already quite saturated. This open-world survival game became extremely popular, fueled by the success of games like DayZ and Rust. Initially, critical reception for 7 Days to Die was extremely cold, but the game still found a strong fan base. In the years since, developer The Fun Pimps has continued to develop the game and brought regular content updates to 7 Days to Die over the past 10 years. The developer finally felt it was time to drop the Early Access label and release version 1.0 of 7 Days to Die.
In a video announcing the changes on YouTube, The Fun Pimps co-founder Richard Huenink confirmed that the PC version of the game will likely see a fully stable 1.0 release in June. All previously announced update for the game will come in the form of a free content update, with a confirmed roadmap until Q4 2025. As 7 Days to Die moves into full release, the price of game is also up, although from April 22, the game will be 76% off for a last chance until April 29, giving players one last chance to buy the game at a low price . 7 Days to Die will also leave Xbox Game Pass on April 30, so this will be the best time for gamers to buy the game at a low price for a while.
The announcement also comes with some great news for gamers across console platforms. While the 1.0 update is too big for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One versions to handle, the highly anticipated PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S versions are currently scheduled to launch in July 2024 and will include feature parity with the PC version. So players on new consoles will finally be playing one of the best base-building post-apocalyptic games on the market. But there is a catch and unfortunately owners of the old console version of 7 Days to Die will not receive the new upgrade for free and will have to buy the game again, although Richard Huenink has clarified that The Fun Pimps is working with Sony and Microsoft to arrange discounts for these players.
With the future of 7 Days to Die confirmed for the next few years, it will be interesting to see what updates the game will receive. The game's roadmap promises some big changes, including the addition of bandits, a story mode, a trader overhaul, and cross-play between platforms. It's great to see the work that's been done to make 7 Days to Day one of the best survival games out there, and it's exciting to think that it will soon get even better.