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 is proud to officially announce its third major expansion for DayZ, scheduled for 2026.

DayZ Badlands invites players to survive the extreme heat and volatile history of Nasdara Province, a war-scarred desert region where thirst is lethal, and survival depends on many challenging factors.

With an enormous size of 267 km², DayZ Badlands introduces the largest official map in the game’s history. Set west of Chernarus and bordering Takistan’s frontier, the terrain offers a desolate blend of cracked soil, sand-swept plains, and mountainous divides. Here, every inch of land tells a story of failed invasions, abandoned cities, and the silence that followed  decades of war.

Key features:

• New Terrain: Explore the fully inland Nasdara province.
• Desert Environment: Endure droughts, manage hydration, and survive a harsh arid spring climate.
• Conflict-Scarred World: Traverse dense towns, abandoned ruins, oil fields, and infrastructure left behind by war.
• Region-Specific Content: Encounter infected variants adapted to the desert and loot new items, cosmetics, and firearms tailored to the region.
• Player-Driven Storytelling: Form factions, uncover forgotten secrets, and decide what rises from the ashes of conflict.

Bohemia Interactive vows to push the boundaries of what survival means in the DayZ universe with DayZ Badlands. From the scorched cities to the silent sands, Nasdara is a land shaped by war, reset by the outbreak, now waiting for new stories to be written in its sands.

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, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S and PC (Steam).