Bohemia Recap – November 2020
Another busy month is in the books and there’s plenty to talk about, including contests, conferences, updates, and new releases. Oh, and if you’re the proud owner of a next-gen PlayStation or Xbox, you’ll definitely want to keep reading.
Without further ado, here’s our recap of November’s key announcements and happenings.
Bohemia Interactive
Just like every other gamer in the world, the entire team at Bohemia Interactive was anxiously anticipating the next-gen console launches of the Xbox Series X|S and PlayStation 5. But what we’re even more excited about is that both DayZ and Vigor are (or will be, in the case of Vigor on PlayStation 5) playable on the new devices via backwards compatibility!
In other news, GDS is the oldest game developers conference in Europe, and has played host to a number of industry heavyweights over the years who’ve delivered fascinating talks covering all aspects of the industry. In fact, our very own Creative Director Ivan Buchta delivered one of those talks last year at GDS 2019 entitled “Living with Livonia”. He spoke about the development of DayZ’s Livonia terrain, which you can now enjoy on YouTube.
And while 2020 has been challenging to say the least, we’re happy to report that GDS defied the odds and held a successful virtual conference this year. Ivan was invited back and delivered a deep dive into the design philosophy behind our iconic Arma series entitled “Charm of the Unexpected: Construction of Non-Linear Gameplay in the Arma Series”. Not to be outdone, Lead Designer Karel Mořický joined in the fun with his own talk called “The Pandora’s Box of Modding in ‘Arma’ Games”. We couldn’t be prouder of both colleagues and hope next year’s GDS will be a long overdue return to normal.
Bohemia's Top Tweet in November:
Vigor
The biggest news out of the Outlands this month was the release of Season 6: Junkers on November 11. If this is the first you’re hearing of it, make sure to check out our trailer, blog, and a preview video from one of our partners for all the juicy info.
Unfortunately, Vigor’s initial release on PlayStation was delayed. If you’re an Xbox fan, however, you’ll be happy to know that it will soon be available on the Xbox Series X|S! You can learn all you need to know here and here. Our very own CEO Marek Španěl also gave it a whirl and had this to say.
It wasn’t all smooth sailing this month as we experienced a few issues with XP. That was thankfully resolved in a matter of days, though quite a number of folks in the community were affected by the hiccup. As a token of our gratitude for their patience, we decided to award 100 crowns to every player who was affected, and also organized a double XP weekend on November 28th and 29th.
Speaking of the community, our Twitter feed was as lively as always.
Vigor's Top Tweet in November:
Ylands
November was a great month for our Creators Competition and our forums are alive with the sound of development! The competition has inspired some fantastic coverage which you can find here and here, as well as some amazing entries. Make sure to check out Lochford Horror 3, Colect (not a typo) Blaster, and Next Generation to see how heated the competition is getting. We’ve received a ton of great submissions and can’t wait to see what else you’ve got in store for us!
In other news, our very own Adam Snellgrove has started streaming every Friday at 4 p.m. CET. Take a peek behind the scenes to see what he’s up to and make sure to check out his highly entertaining Halloween episode when you get the chance. Tune into Twitch and let him know what you think!
For those of you who’d like to learn how to create your own masterpieces with Ylands, you’ll definitely want to take a look at Naru’s Corner, as well as the updated FAQ and QA with our Creative Director Aleš.
Ylands' Top Tweet in November:
DayZ
Big news all around this month, starting with DayZ being available on PS5 and the Xbox Series X|S via backwards compatibility!
We also released our new Game Update 1.10 for PC, Xbox and PlayStation. Some of the new contents include broken legs, cold survival experience, shelters, a flare gun, and M3S truck. Check out our update teaser here.
Lastly, we announced our participation in Steam’s Autumn Sale until December 1st, as well as the #DayZScreenChallenge where we asked players to find a specific destination on the map and send us a screenshot to show us they located it.
DayZ’s Top Tweet in November:
Arma 3
The most important news out of our camp this month was the postponement of Arma 3 Creator DLC: CSLA Iron Curtain until 2021, as well as the Art of War charity DLC - which is now expected to be released at the beginning of the new year. Have a look at SITREP #00239 for a complete overview of what’s been happening behind the scenes with Arma 3 the past few months while it’s in ‘Live Ops’ mode rather than active development.
Arma 3’s Community Manager Niles “Nillers” George has another batch of incredible content that our loyal community has created, which you can find in his latest post, Arma 3 Community Radar #20.
Arma 3's Top Tweet in November:
Mini DayZ 2
We released our geo-beta on iOS this month in Canada, Scandinavia, Turkey, the Philippines, and the Czech Republic, along with an accompanying trailer.
This public test will go a long way in helping us debug and balance the game before it receives a full release. The geo-beta will last up to several months and will end when we’ve collected enough relevant feedback. Players can expect a few updates to the geo-beta build, although major features like multiplayer and character progression won’t be available until the full release. And while Android users won’t be able to participate in this particular test, we are happy to confirm that we plan a simultaneous release of the full game on both iOS and Android when the time comes.
You can learn everything you need to know regarding the geo-beta on our blog.
Mini DayZ's Top Tweet in November:
What else?
That’s it for November. If you'd like to learn more or just want to stay updated on all the latest happenings, make sure to follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn.
Until next time, stay safe and game on!