Update 0.9+ teasers, new map preview, infinite mode, more challenges, incoming translations, price changes, development blog launched, and more!
I hope you're doing great! We certainly haven't been resting for too long the last few months, as we've been busy juggling both the 0.9 update and a console Early Access release!
But first things first, get your tickets ready!
All aboard the zombie-mowing train!
New map is here, this time doused in crimson steel and rusted iron. Hear the distant train horn? It might be closer than you think, so watch out not to stand on the tracks, as this wild ride never ends!
Ready yourself to fight against six new enemies, each with distinct attack patterns and abilities. Face two new terrifying bosses: the Humongous zombie, which transforms his brethren into elites, and the Chainsawman, who's always ready to dance... with death!
Dance, as the crossroads meet, and death clad in iron is waiting to crush its prey at any given moment. Rock out to the two new metal compositions from our acclaimed magicians at Music Imaginary.
And, most importantly, try the...
Remember Endless? This is him now:
As promised, we've divided the old game mode you know and love into two separate experiences, each crafted for the two types of endless enjoyers, so that each one can enjoy the game to their heart's content!
Endurance Mode takes the spot previously owned by the Endless Mode. While early game doesn't differ much from what you're already used to, I dare you to try to survive forever, no matter which build you fancy. In fact, you'll be challenged to survive as long as you can, as every 5-10 minutes, after the 20-minute mark, you'll face an increasing number of new horrors: the Elite Bosses. These foes are not only stronger and tougher than the rest, they are also immune to most things normal zombies aren't. Show us your best moves and prove the World that you can survive the longest!
Infinite Mode in straight contrast is a much more chill experience. While its based on Endurance wave definition, you'll soon find that you can stomp the horde fast and hard, with the fact, that in this mode there is no item limit. Feel free to equip your 89 favorite items, sit back, and relax to your brand new screensaver (popcorn sold separately) that can go on, and on, and on, and on... BUT! To not make the game feel meaningless, this is an optional game mode, in which most achievements are disabled. As such, you'll still have incentives to play other modes and progress further than before!
We hope that this separation will prove both sides happy as now you can choose if you want to be challenged or prefer to chill and watch the numbers go up.
And the numbers WILL go up, because all difficulty levels, game modes, and arenas now have...
Remember the good old days, where you had to kite the bullet sponges (boss enemies) through every corner of the map, barely escaping before they died? Me neither!
With this update, we're fixing the inconsistencies between different levels, so that you know what to expect when starting your run, and making sure you'll get rewarded for going for the extra challenge.
In addition to better difficulty VS reward curves, we're nerfing the Horde representants Max HP and Movement Speed stats. Zombies no longer increase their movement speed with time, keeping the challenge fair and increasing players' feeling of getting stronger as the run continues.
But it wouldn't be a challenge if the battle were one-sided, don't you agree? Saying that, zombies are now more organized, striking sooner, and with improved encircling AI. Ice damage type is no longer the "only right way" to clear late game content, with its crazy scaling nerfed, and Horde can now break free of a taunt effect if you come too close to them while they're distracted!
Be sure to let us know what you think about these changes after playing a few runs. We'd love to hear more of your feedback to know if the difficulty is in the right spot or if we should re-adjust it.
We heard you like tabs, so we've put tabs in your Achievements!
Besides the new achievements we're adding in this update, there's also a redesign of the achievements interface, aimed to support the additions that we've promised before. Achievements UI is now divided into three parts:
We've also added a minimap, which was also an often requested feature. You can customize it to your liking from within the new Options menu tab: Interface. With the addition of minimap, you can choose to disable the classic indicators, as well as the map, or use both at the same time - your game, your choice!
Speaking of choices, we've also added the Auto-Choices function, which can be enabled in the General tab of the Options menu. This option adds an additional button in the pause menu, which allows you to set which types of power-up selection screens will have their choices selected at random. Feeling like putting your survival on the line, giving full control to the lady luck? Wanting to just relax and not think too much about your level-up choices? Now you can do just that!
There are also many other QoL improvements, like additional information in tooltips, more details in the skill trees, improved control of the power-up selection interface, and many more. For all the details, I invite you to check the full patch notes below:
PS If you encounter issues with the game crashing or freezing, please refer to our Troubleshoot Guide first!
The update 0.9 is officially the final major update of the Early Access version (release hype!).
That, however, doesn't mean we won't update the game still before the 1.0 version drops. In fact, we currently plan to release a series of smaller updates, which will consist of not only hotfixes to potential reported issues, but also some of the planned features.
Here are the next things we plan to work on:
And... you'll not believe it, but...
Which brings us to:
With the amount of things to come - especially with the last surprise addition mentioned above - we've decided that we're moving the full game release date a bit forward, which now officially stands at the first half of the 2026.
We're sorry for yet another delay, but we ask you for a bit more patience, as we really want to do the release correctly. Version 1.0 impressions from the new and old players will be extremely important for us, as a successful launch on PC and consoles will pave the way for us to continue the development further, adding all the crazy stuff we've missed along the way in our shared adventure in the Early Access!
This time, if we won't encounter any complications along the way, we're confident that we can make it this time, as we have a clear cut of what we want to implement, as well as a bit of leeway to make it happen, with some of the upcoming features actually already being worked on as I write this.
Yes, you've heard that right, YAZS is now available on all Xbox Ones & Series, in a Game Preview (Early Access) version. Also, your demo progress transfers to the retail version!
https://www.xbox.com/games/store/yet-another-zombie-survivors/9NCK0FXQL38F
Forgive us for not bringing the game to consoles sooner, but we've encountered some roadblocks along the way. For Xbox release, we've had to be selected by the platform holder to be accepted into the Game Preview program, and we actually were, around a month ago (which is the surprise on why update 0.9 got delayed to September, oops)!
About the other console platforms, well... both Sony & Nintendo approach to early access titles and game releases overall required us to skip the "game preview" versions for both of these ecosystems, as well as plan the demo release to be closer to the full game release. While it's unfortunately something outside of our control, we can assure you that...
Our test builds for both PS4, PS5, and Switch (the original one!) are working great, and you'll be able to play the full version of the game at the same time as everyone else, no matter which platform you're on!
PS Update 0.9 will come to Xbox soon, as we polish the last few console-specific related quirks!
If you've read through it all, you're the real MVP!
There were a lot of things happening in the background these last couple of weeks, so we're thankful for your patience while we've worked on the update to one of your favorite post-time activities.
Special thanks, as always, to our brave beta testers, who made sure your experience will be bug-free (except the bugs we've added in the last few days - sorry!)!
Now, please enjoy yourself, no matter if you're playing on Steam or on Xbox. We hope you'll continue to enjoy the game and will keep us informed on what you would add or change. Remember, we're here, and we DO listen to all your feedback and suggestions!
Stay awesome,
Kalafiorek @ Awesome Games Studio
Update 0.9+ teasers, new map preview, infinite mode, more challenges, incoming translations, price changes, development blog launched, and more!
