DayZ creator on The War Z fiasco: ‘I’ve been pretty depressed’

DayZ creator Dean "Rocket" Hall has been pretty "depressed" about the recent controversy surrounding the release of The War Z on Steam earlier this week. Shortly after The War Z — which many accused as being a rip off of Hall's work — was released, it came under fire when it was realized that several of the game's promised features on the Steam page description were not in the game. Hammerpoint Interactive quickly edited the page and apologized for fans' "misreading" it, but the damage had already been done. From there, The War Z continued to draw sharp criticism until Steam stepped in and removed it from its new release list.

You'd think a man whose idea was used for great inspiration, if not blatantly copied, would take joy in the recent events. After all, it is a competitor to his upcoming standalone DayZ. As it turns out, the fiasco has done just the opposite, sending Hall into a reclusive mindset.

"I've been pretty depressed about the whole situation. From a personal standpoint, this whole "saga" of the development made me seriously question if I wanted to be involved in the industry and I gave serious thought to cutting my losses and not being involved in the project," Hall said on Reddit today.

"I've been getting hammered by a massive amount with requests for information about DayZ release, interviews and my reactions to this and stuff and such – but for my own sanity I retreated and have kept to myself," he explained. "Right now I'm just at home doing bits and pieces on the DayZ development. The rest of the DayZ team is doing the same."

"I realize that I went back on my word about releasing an update, but went back into my shell for a bit last week, and I'll come out when the dust is all settled," Hall concluded.

The community of fans on Reddit have been pretty supportive of Hall for the most part. They've encouraged him and the team to take the necessary time needed to ensure a finished product. I think that's all you can really ask for from him.