H1Z1: King Of The Kill Will Be Coming To PS4 This Year

Scheduled to go live this summer, the PvP deathmatch rendition of H1Z1 will be launching on the PS4 and Xbox One. The small slice off of the open-world zombie survival title will be called H1Z1: King of the Kill and it will focus on PvP survival antics set within deathmatch arenas.

The news went live over on the PlayStation blog where Daybreak Game Company's community manager, Greg Henninger, explained that the PvP mode that originally started out as a specialty game mode has now turned into its own game.

The zombie survival title will be split into two games, one just focused on the PvP called H1Z1: King of the Kill, while the other will be called H1Z1: Just Survive. The split will happen for PC gamers starting February 17. Anyone who already owns the original will automatically gain access to both versions once it goes live in the middle of February.

PlayStation 4 and Xbox One owners will be able to participate in a kill-or-be-killed style arena atmosphere within H1Z1 later this year, where some scavenging will take place and various environments will play host to all manner of deadly PvP intentions.

Henninger described the mode in a way that gave me some serious pause about how it could be utilized by some players. According to the community manager, players can go rushing in to kill any and everyone to be the last one standing; others might find it easier to hide somewhere and wait for all the shooting to stop and then try to nab the last kill to be the last man or woman standing.

After Henninger explained how players aren't limited in the kind of play-style they employ in the H1Z1 PvP mode, it instantly made me think of Kinji Fukasaku's Battle Royale. The concept of utilizing the rules against those who are either shoot-crazy or those passive enough where they would have to hide to avoid exposing how limited their shooting skills are could make H1Z1 one of the standout PvP experiences of the summer on the PS4 and Xbox One.

The game can already be played in a similar manner on PC, but it's also compiled in with the zombie survival aspects where players attempt to survive against the animals in the wilderness, the zombies roaming the countryside and other players out looking to get their hands on the best forms of loot out there.

The news about H1Z1: King of the Kill making its way to PS4 was received with mixed responses from the PlayStation community. One of the problems is that a lot of PlayStation 4 owners were expecting the full open-world experience – the one that PC gamers are experiencing right now. Instead they're only getting the PvP portion without the base building, survival aspects, and most importantly... the zombies.

According to Daybreak, they still have plans on porting over the full version of H1Z1 to the PS4 and Xbox One, as described over on their official website. For now they want to focus on getting the PvP up and out as soon as possible.

H1Z1: King of the Kill and H1Z1: Just Survive will both be available for $19.99.