DayZ's Update 1.16 Adds A New Submachine Gun And An Alarm Clock

It's hard to believe that it's been roughly a full decade since the debut of DayZ. The mod for Arma 2 was first released by Dean Hall in the spring of 2012, effectively creating the survival genre as we know it. The standalone game was launched into early access in late 2013 and fully launched five years later, and its latest update, 1.16, went live today.

The update sees the dev team take on its "backlog of issues and set a firm foundation for our future plans." 1.16 offered them the chance to do a "clean sweep" and fix everything they could, while also adding a few bits of content. Those include the Bizon .380 submachine gun and the most critical piece of gear any survivor could ask for: a retro-styled alarm clock. Now you'll always know when your rice is done cooking, assuming you aren't just eating it raw from the bag like an animal.

Last week's blog post also laid out the plans for the coming year, which will see "frequent updates that include a healthy balance of fixes, stability, balancing, and new content." On the docket for 2022 are a ramping up of asset production, more attention paid to official terrain, more lore for Hannah, and more. In all, five updates are planned for the year, including four seasonal events, and there's more work being done to improve the game's stability across all platforms.