UPDATE: Party's over, man. Bohemia Interactive and original DayZ mod creator Dean "Rocket" Hall tell VG24/7 that the DayZ Bounty mod "undermines" the intent of the game. They said they will be contacting the Bounty creators within the next few days and officially request that they cease activity.
Original story:
It was just a matter of time. You're already killing every player that crosses your path in DayZ, "friendly" or otherwise, why not get something for it -- you know, besides the flashlight and bag of chips? Meet DayZ Bounty, a new community focused on competitive play in the zombie survival mod, a community that plans to reward successful players with real-world cash.
So how does it work? At the moment, DayZ Bounty is still in alpha testing, so the team behind it is still trying to work out all the details, but here's the basic idea: players will pay $5 to get into the DayZ Bounty server (currently on a re-imagined version of the Chernarus map), where they'll have four opportunities to earn back their money, and potentially generate a profit. Zombies will be worth 1/10 of $0.01, Survivors (players who haven't killed any other Survivors) $0.05, Survivor-killing Bandits $0.25, and the big daddy, The Outlaw, will be worth $5.
Join a Bounty match, and one player will be automatically and randomly named The Outlaw. Play as this sought-after target, and you'll instantly earn $3 plus $0.10 for every hour you survive. To make sure The Outlaw doesn't just hunker down and hide, the Bounty creators say there will be various objectives for The Outlaw to complete, including traveling to different areas, killing certain targets, etc. Failure to complete these objectives will result in The Outlaw's death and the selection of a new outlaw.
For the time being, DayZ Bounty is using fake cash while it irons out the kinks. So feel free to sign up for some competitive play in the alpha at the official DayZ Bounty site.