DayZ Dev Uses Beatles Song to Respond to Players Review-Bombing $27 DLC for Being ‘Too Expensive’

Long-running zombie game DayZ is currently embroiled in a Steam review-bomb campaign after releasing $27 DLC deemed “too expensive” by disgruntled players.

DayZ Frostline launched in October priced $26.99. The expansion adds a new snow-covered map called Sakhal that spans 83km² (not including ice sheets). There’s a winter wilderness with new challenges and opportunities for survival. “Brace yourself for a truly immersive adventure where the environment itself is as much your adversary as the infected and other survivors,” reads developer Bohemia Interactive’s description.

DayZ players, however, have reacted negatively to Frostline’s price, with Steam user reviews saying it’s “not worth the money.”

“… Sakhal does have SOME neat stuff to it, but it is absolutely NOT worth its asking price as of right now,” reads one negative review. “Maybe in time they’ll add more interesting features to the map to justify its existence, but right now you can get much better maps for free and Bohemia knows it. If you really want a frozen hellhole experience, play Namalsk. But if you play DayZ on PC I’m sure you already have.”

Recent reviews for Frostline now have the dreaded ‘mostly negative’ user review rating on Steam, which Bohemia boss Marek Spanel clearly takes issue with. In a tweet, Spanel revealed that the Czech studio has received less than 10 cents for each hour of live online gaming DayZ has tracked since the game went live over a decade ago, when you factor in the average hours played and dollars spent by the game’s eight million users.

“Yet DayZ Frostline is currently being review-bombed on the same platform for being too expensive: $26.99 for ‘just a map,’ and some users demand ‘gimme more for less money,’ Spanel continued.

“Hmm. Please Please Me.”

Did you know that 8 million users for whom we have data on Steam played for an average of 188 hours and paid an average of 30 USD gross in #Dayz? That means we received less than 10 cents for an hour of live online gaming, for which we host the online infrastructure and have been… pic.twitter.com/zOMQNvEPtq

— Marek Spanel (@maruksp) November 26, 2024

That last line is a reference to the Beatles song, Please Please Me, which includes the lyrics: “I don’t want to sound complaining, But you know there’s always rain in my heart (in my heart), I do all the pleasing with you, It’s so hard to reason with you, Whoa, yeah, why do you make me blue?”

Responding further to X / Twitter users, Spanel said “nobody is forcing anyone to buy DayZ Frostline; the base game is still running for all users.”

The official DayZ account was perhaps a little more diplomatic, quote-tweeting Spanel’s original post to say it’s listening to the feedback.

“We also don’t forget about our amazing modding community – and yes, they’ve got tons of free maps that’ll keep you busy if you are not ready to join people on frosty Sakhal just yet!” Bohemia added.

While continuing to update DayZ, Bohemia is also working on Arma 4, which recently received a release window.

Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at [email protected] or confidentially at [email protected].