Open-world zombie survival game 7 Days to Die launched in Early Access on Steam in 2013. Three years later, the game arrived on consoles. And now, over a decade after its initial launch, 7 Days to Die is finally leaving Early Access with its 1.0 update. However, console players will have to re-buy the game to see the future of 7 Days to Die.
The world was a much different place in 2013. For example, the concept of games launching in early access—with future updates adding more content over time—was still fairly new. It had been popularized earlier by Minecraft, which launched with limited features and content and was gradually updated to become bigger and better. To help other devs pull off a similar development schedule, in March 2013, Valve officially added the Early Access system to its digital storefront. And later that year, in December, the zombie survival game 7 Days to Die would launch in Early Access and become one of the program’s first big success stories. And now, one of the first Early Access games ever is finally leaving.
As announced on April 20, 7 Days to Die is launching its 1.0 update sometime in June. This update was previously known as Alpha 22, though developer Fun Pimps says it was always planned to be 1.0 internally. The developer says there will be an experimental, early release in May followed by a stable, retail launch the next month. As part of this new 1.0 launch, the price of 7 Days to Die is also increasing to $45, but it’s currently on sale for just $6 in the lead-up to its big update.
Bad news for console owners of 7 Days to Die
In an FAQ posted shortly after the announcement, the devs explained what was going on with the console ports of 7 Days to Die. The 2016 PS4 and Xbox One ports of the zombie game were developed by Iron Galaxy and published by Telltale Games. However, in 2017—due to Telltale going bankrupt—the console ports of 7 Days to Die stopped receiving updates and have mostly been left abandoned by The Fun Pimps, even after the studio got control of the ports in 2019. Since then, fans have wanted an update on the console ports and whether they will be updated again.
Now we know the answer: Nope.
In a section of the FAQ dedicated to the console versions of the game, The Fun Pimps explained that a new version of 7 Days to Die was coming to consoles “a few weeks after” the PC launch of 1.0.
Meanwhile, the original console ports are going to be delisted and won’t be supported or updated to 1.0. Old saves won’t be supported either. While the developer plans to offer a discount to owners of those previous versions, it did confirm that players will have to re-buy the game on Xbox Series X/S or PlayStation 5 to enjoy 7 Days to Die’s new content and features.
Why the old console ports are being killed
Fun Pimps blames “significant technical differences between old and current console hardware” as the reason it can’t update the original ports. After the game is delisted—and removed from Game Pass—players who own it already will still be able to download and play it. But future players will have to buy the new console ports to play 7 Days to Die on console.
This news has received mixed reactions from the community. Some understand the situation, blaming Telltale’s bankruptcy for the out-of-date console port currently available. Others are less charitable, asking why folks who bought the game years ago with the hope of receiving future updates are now being asked to buy it again.
Others have also argued that The Fun Pimps’ suggestion that the company’s “decision early on to focus on a ‘new’ version of the game” implies that it knew it wasn’t going to support the old console ports for a while now, yet continued to sell those versions of the game on PS4 and Xbox One.
Regardless of the mess, The Fun Pimps say they plan on supporting both versions of 7 Days to Die for years to come after the release of 1.0, adding new features and more content. Hopefully this time the console ports don’t get left behind after just a year.
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