Darkest Days: A New Survival Game Inspired by Titles like DayZ, Dying Light, and State of Decay
Launched on April 24, Darkest Days – the debut title from studio NHN – is making waves on Steam. Despite having a peak concurrent player count of over 4,000, the game has faced challenges in maintaining a stable player base, with only 17% of reviews being positive out of more than 400 total feedback entries to date.
Darkest Days offers an immersive survival experience that feels familiar to fans of the genre. Players assume the role of a survivor, exploring a vast open world, scavenging for resources, crafting items, hunting zombies, and building shelters.
The game supports cooperative play and features PvE gameplay, where players can band together to fend off waves of zombies – a formula that has proven successful in many previous titles. However, many survival games have struggled with in-game monetization systems. With a free-to-play model, Darkest Days has been criticized for implementing pay-to-win mechanics, such as fast-tracking resource acquisition, which has become a significant drawback for survival games.
Despite the negative feedback, some players are more forgiving and consider Darkest Days a ‘clone’ of State of Decay, which debuted back in 2012. However, it cannot be denied that Darkest Days is currently receiving considerable attention. According to statistics from SteamDB, the game ranks 296th among the most played titles on Steam, surpassing established names like The Division 2, Manor Lords, and World War Z.
In the context of the survival genre – particularly zombie-themed games – the success or failure of a title depends not only on gameplay but also on the developers’ approach to business models and community feedback. Will Darkest Days be able to overcome its challenges and remain relevant in a competitive market, or will it become just another footnote in the history of failed zombie games? The answer remains uncertain.
