Dean Hall to leave DayZ and Bohemia behind at the end of the year

DayZ can be considered a big success for Dean Hall and Bohemia Interactive. With the Standalone version sill in Early Access it’s been selling like hotcakes since it hit Steam, but it’s still got a long way to go.

Speaking to Eurogamer he revealed that he’ll be leaving Bohemia Interactive and DayZ behind at the end of this year. According to Hall it was never his intention to be working at Bohemia for long periods, instead splitting his time between working at Bohemia in Prague and his home country of New Zealand. When he does leave, the game will be left in the hands of his team at Bohemia.

“Originally I wasn’t going to do this year, but it would be stupid not to, and it would be unfair to the community. I have to be on the project as long as it’s important to. Whether that role is as the leader, whether that role is in a more creative sense… But at a certain point there will be diminishing returns.

Bohemia was aware of Halls’ plans adding, “Under the guidance of Dean, DayZ’s development will continue to move full-steam ahead, and we’re expecting to make a lot of progress this year – and in the year(s) after that of course.”

Hall plans to move back to New Zealand and form a new development studio and he apparently has three new game ideas that are fleshed out and another two that still need more work. He says that they “have similar DNA to DayZ.”

A large part of the success of DayZ can be attributed to Dean Hall’s direct involvement in the game’s development and his communication with the community which has spawned from the the original mod. Hall’s eventual departure will be a loss for the game and community but hopefully Hall will provide enough guidance and advice to his team to help them release a solid final game.

Hall is still on the hunt to create that perfect multiplayer experience and perhaps he’ll find it when he branches out on his own.

“I feel like DayZ is a fundamentally flawed concept and I’ve always recognised that. It’s not the perfect game; it’s not the multiplayer experience, and it never can be, [with] the absolute spark that I want in it.”