DayZ beta not expected until end of 2014, sales now up to 875K

DayZ developer Bohemia Interactive doesn't expect to reach the beta stage of development before the end of 2014, according to a post on the game's official Tumblr page yesterday.

The note came within a section of the post in which Bohemia warned interested parties that the currently available version of DayZ is an Early Access alpha that is a work in progress.

"We strongly advise you not to buy and play the game at this stage unless you clearly understand what Early Access means and are interested in participating in the ongoing development cycle. Please keep in mind that we do not expect to reach beta status sooner than the end of 2014," the post reads. DayZ grew out of a mod for Bohemia's Arma 2 that originally debuted in the spring of 2012; the stand-alone game was announced that August.

The Early Access version of DayZ was released Dec. 16, 2013. As of yesterday, three weeks after the launch date, Bohemia had sold more than 875,000 copies of the alpha. It is available for €23.99 in Europe and $29.99 in North America.

"The level of support and confidence we have received from the DayZ community makes us even more dedicated to the game than we were in the past 16 months of DayZ standalone development," said Bohemia yesterday, adding, "We're very surprised to see such interest as this clearly is not a game for everyone."