Surprise-smash co-op zombie shooter World War Z unveils post-launch content roadmap
New mission! New zombie type! Brains!
Following a surprise million-selling launch for co-operative Left-4-Dead-a-like zombie shooter World War Z last month, developer Saber Interactive has unveiled a new post-launch content roadmap, outlining a variety of free updates.
Sabre is referring to its first block of post-launch additions as Season 1, which will bring "new gameplay, features and improvements" in May, June, and July.
First up in May is a new mission set in Tokyo. At launch, World War Z's Tokyo chapter featured two missions, while chapters set in New York, Jersualem, and Moscow all had three. So perhaps they lost this one down the back of the sofa and are just reinstating it now. May also brings a new zombie type which "spits a deadly virus and can resurrect if not properly dispatched".
Come June, World War Z will receive a new "six-skull" difficulty level with its own unique reward, plus more bonus cosmetics - which, according to the accompanying infographic, will include new weapons variants, character skins, and accessories. Then, moving on to July, you can expect a new Weekly Challenge mode, more cosmetics, and "other goodies".
There's actually a little more to the roadmap too, with the likes of private lobbies, a wave-based survival mode, the ability to switch classes in PvPvZ matches, plus field of view and level of detail sliders for PC players, also planned. However, there's no current release date for those.
Despite it being hugely derivative of Valve's (ultimately superior) Left 4 Dead series, Eurogamer was largely positive about World War Z's charms when review timed rolled around. "It's very aware of what it is - that one game you play with friends for a few rounds each evening when you have no energy left for anything else," wrote Malindy Hetfield, "The chaos is entertaining [and] defeating large groups of zombies is continuously satisfying, too."