The War Z is a zombie survival MMO by Hammerpoint Interactive.
Last week, we had a conversation with Sergey Titov, executive producer on The War Z. The results were simultaneously fascinating, infuriating, and extremely concerning. Most notably, Titov appeared indifferent to our very real concerns about his game. Today, however, Titov is singing a different tune, issuing a formal apology in which he addresses the largely negative response to the zombie survival shooter and takes much of the blame for what he sees as a lack of communication between his company and the consumer. Read More »
In hindsight, it's surprising this issue didn't come up way sooner: it seems that the US Patent and Trade Office sent a letter to The War Z developer OP Productions (parent of Hammerpoint) and publisher Arktos Entertainment stating that the request to trademark the name "The War Z" has been suspended because it too closely resembles Paramount Pictures' upcoming movie World War Z (which is loosely based on the 2006 novel of the same name). The kicker: OP has apparently known about this for about six weeks, before it launched The War Z on Steam and removed all alpha or beta labels from its site. Read More »
Somewhere out there in The War Z's zombie-infested Colorado map is food and drink, supplies, and weaponry to help fend off the undead and other players. The challenge, for me, was putting up with its awkward movement controls, the hackers, and the random buggy deaths long enough to find them. The War Z displays astonishing design ineptitude and some of the worst kinds of microtransactions in gaming, all in one ugly package. I'm feeling worn down -- but not tired enough to not be angry. Read More »
Instant karma's gonna get you. Lennon's lyrics come to mind when I take a step back and look at the flaming carnage that is The War Z launch. No doubt there are some fine, honest people working hard at Hammerpoint, but there's no getting around this fact: The War Z is a clone of Dean Hall's Arma 2 mod, DayZ, and Hammerpoint threw out a sub-par product as quickly as possible in an effort to cash in. Now that The War Z has been removed from Steam and become an internet pariah, what does Hall think of it all? The modder turned designer stepped forward on Reddit to express his opinion. Read More »
After our astonishing interview with The War Z's executive producer yesterday, it comes as no real surprise that Valve has stepped up and pulled The War Z from sale on Steam until Hammerpoint sorts out its issues. Customers who already bought it via Steam can keep it if they want; those who don't can get a full refund from Steam support. Valve also admits it made a mistake in releasing The War Z in the first place. Valve's full statement below. Read More »
Release Region: United States
Release Date: October 31, 2012
Publisher: Arktos Entertainment