Sony Online Entertainment reveals H1Z1 zombie survival MMO

Sony Online Entertainment has revealed it has been working on a new massively multiplayer online game, dubbed H1Z1.

The news comes in the form of a reply from John Smedly, president of Sony Online Entertainment, to a Twitter query that states "@Jedi_Skote you can play it yourself soon. and by play I mean play fully."

As per Sony Online Entertainment, the MMO game has a survival theme, and is set in a world infected by a virus, called H1Z1. Set 15 years after the initial outbreak of the virus, players have to face the infected animals and other survivors in the game.

The game's name, H1Z1, of course suggests some connection to the recent influenza-type virus pandemic, swine-origin H1N1 or hemagglutinin (H1) Viral neuraminidase (N1). The Z presumably connotes the 'zombie' angle.

Smedly additionally detailed on H1Z1's Reddit page that the H1Z1 game will be based on "sandbox style of gameplay".

Smedly went on to describe how H1Z1 would differ from the other post-apocalyptic game titles. "...It's a persistent MMO that can hold thousands of players on servers we host (yes there will be multiple servers with very different rule sets). Why is that a good thing? It means a thriving economy (oh yes... there's trading). It also means you have potential allies in the all-out war on the Infected... and many an enemy as well... The Roadmap system that we built for PlanetSide 2 will be used extensively to clearly communicate what features we're working on and what you can expect and when."

Smedly adds, "The main thing that differentiates H1Z1 from the other great games in the genre is the emphasis we are putting on player ownership and building. We want you to be able to form roving gangs that are headquartered out of an abandoned warehouse that you've taken over... or a house you've built from scratch after having cut trees down and secured the resources to make it."