The post-soviet country of Chernarus is struck by an unknown virus, turning the majority population into frenzied infected. Fighting over resources has bred a hostile mentality among survivors, driving what’s left of humanity to collapse. You are one of the few immune to the virus – how far will you go to survive?

DayZ is an unforgiving, authentic survival experience. Up to 60 survivors on a server engage in a completely unscripted gameplay scenario with no goals given, except for one: to survive as long as they can, by all means necessary. There are no superficial tips, way-points, built-in tutorials, or help given to players. Every decision matters, and every mistake can be lethal. If you die in DayZ, you lose all your character progress and start over, as the game features a permadeath concept.

With the need to manage your character's basic survival requirements and the looming danger of permadeath restarting your progress, DayZ is an exceptionally immersive game. Despite not directly featuring any storytelling mechanics, the post-apocalyptic open world of DayZ presents a unique online sandbox where every decision adds up, creating your own personal story. When all 60 players on a server engage in this completely unscripted survival scenario, the resulting emergent gameplay leads to intense player interactions — some action-packed and short, and some involving long, sophisticated roleplay with very real emotions that you remember long after.

Bohemia Interactive has just announced the upcoming DayZ Free Weekend, starting on Thursday, February 13th (10 AM PST) and ending on Monday, February 17th (10 AM PST). To play DayZ for free, head over to the DayZ store page on Steam and install the game – it’s as simple as that.

For those infected by the DayZ experience, there will also be a 40% discount on the base game, as well as a 10% discount on the recently released Livonia DLC, should survivors wish to continue playing after the free weekend ends.

The free weekend comes on the heels of the 1.07 update, which focuses on bug-fixing, tweaks, and optimizations, and although introducing only a few new pieces of content – such as a new weapon and ammo types – it brings a huge addition to the map: Amusement Parks. To find out more about the new update, check out the full changelog.

Key Features

• Detailed, authentic backdrop of Chernarus, an open world terrain featuring 230 square kilometres of hand-crafted environment based on real life locations
• Real emotional experience driven by the emergent interactions of 60 players on the server, all fighting for survival by any means necessary
• Environmental dangers including the infected, dynamic weather, and animal predators
• Wide variety of complex survival mechanics - from hunting and crafting, through sophisticated injury simulation, to transferable diseases
• Persistent servers with complex loot economy, and the ability to build improvised bases
• Visceral, authentic gun play and melee combat systems
• Smooth and reactive character controller utilizing a detailed animation system
• Rewarding and authentic experience of driving vehicles for travel and material transport

DayZ is available on PS4, Xbox One and PC.