Developer Bohemia Interactive has announced the next expansion for DayZ, titled Badlands, which adds a new desert environment in the Nasdara province, new variants of infected that have adapted to the harsh rule of the desert, and more when it arrives sometime in 2026.
Badlands adds "the largest official map in the game's history," according to Bohemia Interactive in a press release, with 267 square kilometers of desert for players to explore in Nasdara's desert. It's also not just dry sand as far as the eye can see. There are towns, ruins, oil fields, and plenty of environmental storytelling to discover in the post-war desert.
The desert also brings a few desert-specific survival elements, meaning players will need to keep an eye on how hydrated they are and stay out of the sun to keep cool and alive. And as previously mentioned, there's more to watch out for beyond the regular-world desert hazards, with new variants of infected that have all been warped by the desert.
Bohemia Interactive also adds that this expansion will feature "player-driven storytelling," as players form factions and discover "forgotten secrets."
"Bohemia Interactive vows to push the boundaries of what survival means in the DayZ universe with DayZ Badlands," the studio writes in a press release. "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."
This is a big switch from the last major expansion for DayZ, which was Frostline, taking players to the dead of winter, instead of the desert. Hopefully, we'll know more about this expansion soon, like a proper release date instead of its current release window for next year, and get a better look at what to expect when we head into the desert.
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