DayZ standalone will be out this year, “and it’s going to be cheap”

DayZ developer Dean “Rocket” Hall has been going over his plans for DayZ at the Eurogamer Expo. “It has to be out before the end of the year,” he said. “Not just because we’ve committed to it but in order to achieve what we have to do. It has to be. There’s no ‘we hope it is’; it has to be.
“And it’s going to be cheap. We’ve decided that we don’t need to sell a heap of units in order for us to be OK with where it’s going. The more units we sell of it the more ambitious we get, because the project has the better resources.”
Hall mentioned that Valve, Eve Online developers, CCP, and Notch have expressed interest in helping out with early code, but the project has experienced a setback. The two Bohemia Interactive developers arrested for espionage in Greece were responsible for building the updated version of Chernarus that’ll provide the setting for the standalone version of DayZ. “I just want to see them home,” he said. “Whatever I do to see them back is important.”
The fear of copycat games is one of the factors driving Hall’s determination to get DayZ out quickly. An audience member asked Hall about his thoughts on WarZ, which features many obvious similarities to his mod. “Should I sue anyone who ever mentions something to do with zombie horror – will that make a better game? And the whole premise of of DayZ, and the whole premise of our development is we’re going to make an awesome game. That’s what we’re selling. We’re going to price it low and lots of people are going to play it. If we compromise on that, we’re screwed.”