Dean Hall, the game designer from New Zealand who brought us the ArmA II mod DayZ, told Eurogamer he will be stepping down as the leader on the game. He plans to return home to New Zealand and create a game studio there, where he will “keep trying to create that elusive, perfect multiplayer game.” He knows the process won’t be overnight, so his people are going to “start it cooking” now.
It doesn’t hurt that Hall already has five ideas for games – three that are already written, and two that are rough. “‘A lot of them have similar DNA [to DayZ],’ he said, because he’s ‘fascinated’ by multiplayer games and because he’s ‘very interested’ in survival games.” But with DayZ, he feels like it’s “kind of like cooking in someone else’s kitchen: I don’t want to be constantly telling Bohemia that this is how I do it and this is the way we do it.” He’s not going to screw them over, though:
Much can change in a year, of course. Is Hall’s mind set? “Oh, it’s set. Definitely,” he nodded. But he won’t leave DayZ in the lurch – won’t leave at a crucial time. “I would extend my involvement here as long as Bohemia wanted – needed – me,” he stressed. In other words, there’s flexibility.
Check out the full interview over at Eurogamer.
