Almost 11 years after DayZ was first launched in Early Access, Bohemia Interactive’s zombie survival game has reached a massive new peak player count on Steam. DayZ first entered Early Access back in December 2013, but it appears it’s still more popular than ever.DayZ began life as an Arma 2 mod developed by Dean “Rocket” Hall, before being expanded by developer Bohemia Interactive as a full product. It’s easy to forget how influential the title is on the modern gaming industry. It was part of that initial burst of open-world survival games, a trend that remains popular. That’s not to forget its role in creating the mammoth battle royale genre, either. Brendan “PlayerUnknown” Greene created the DayZ: Battle Royale mod, creating a formula he later polished in PUBG: Battlegrounds. Countless battle royales would follow; for better or worse, DayZ’s effect on the gaming industry is still felt to this day. Related DayZ: Best Assault Rifles, Ranked With myriad assault rifles to choose from in DayZ, these stand out as the best of the best. According to player count charts on SteamDB, DayZ has just hit a new all-time peak player count on Steam, after reaching 73,615 players. This just pips the previous peak of 73,418, which it managed back in January 2024. It’s an impressive feat to manage so late into its lifespan. For context, its late 2013 launch saw over 45,000 players, although this had declined to an average of anywhere between 3,000 to 5,000 players from mid-2017 to mid-2018. Much like its zombies, DayZ has truly been raised from the dead over the last few years. There might be plenty of games like DayZ, but nothing truly compares to the original. DayZ Hits New Steam Peak Player Count Close There’s one obvious reason that DayZ’s player count has reached this new peak right now. A few days back, DayZ’s Frostline DLC went live, bringing an entirely new icy map, Sakhal, which has taken the game’s survival elements to the next level. It’s a brand-new experience, even for veteran DayZ players, with more additions such as boats arriving at the same time. The weekend has finally allowed enough players to jump in and try DayZ: Frostline to push it to a new peak player count.Despite its age, DayZ’s popularity is evidently showing no signs of slowing down. This means it’s unlikely that Bohemia Interactive will cut support for the game any time soon. DayZ has been through some undeniably rough periods, and now, in its best shape ever, it’s hard to imagine the studio slowing down, even with the recent announcement of Arma 4’s release date. It’s exciting to imagine what the studio will do next with the game.