DayZ Frostline DLC: Release Window, New Map & Gameplay Mechanics

Summary DayZ's Frostline DLC expands the game with winter survival challenges and a new map featuring snow-covered forests and volcanic peaks.

The DLC introduces harsher survival dynamics, including managing character warmth, new diseases, and hunting for winter-themed cosmetics.

Players can expect new region-specific wildlife like reindeer and arctic hares, along with enhanced fishing mechanics in Frostline.

Bohemia Interactive has announced its second expansion for the open-world survival horror hybrid-MMO game DayZ, which will be called Frostline. Originally starting as a mod for ARMA 2 back in 2013, DayZ transformed into its own standalone title in 2018 following an extremely lengthy Early Access period and was later launched on Xbox One and PlayStation 4 in 2019. The title attempts to put a realistic spin on zombie survival, with players having to scavenge the game's map for supplies that include both necessities such as food and water, as well as weapons to fend off the undead and other competitive players.

While DayZ has had several updates over the years, which have added new mechanics and weapons, the game has previously only had one paid expansion, 2019's Livonia map, which offered 163 square kilometers of fields and forests, in which players had to hunt, fish, and forage to survive with far more animals present than before. With the release of Frostline, however, the Livonia DLC will be integrated into the DayZ base game as part of Update 1.25, a move that has sparked a spree of negative reviews from players frustrated that they paid for a map they believe is underpopulated and underplayed, accusing Bohemia Interactive of making it free purely so it can promote Frostline as the game's only DLC.

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And What Platforms Will It Be On?

DayZ's Frostline DLC is targeting a Fall 2024 release window and is available to wishlist on Steam now. Unlike some modern DLCs which are only available on current-gen platforms, such as Horizon: Forbidden West's Burning Shores or Cyberpunk 2077's Phantom Liberty, Frostline will be available on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, as well as PC. This is likely due to the fact that while the game is available on PS5 and Xbox Series X/S via backwards compatibility (and received an optimization patch on the former to improve its frame rates) there isn't a proper next-gen upgrade for it yet.

There is currently no price shown on the expansion's Steam page, but the previous paid DLC expansion, Livonia, cost $13.99, so it's likely that Frostline will cost roughly the same upon its launch.

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Frostline's New Map Introduces Winter Survival

From Snow-Covered Forests To Volcanic Peaks

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Frostline's new map spans over 83 square kilometers covered in snow, from thick forests to frozen lakes, with frigid islands and volcanic peaks in the Sakhal archipelago, an area where "time stands still". The DLC's reveal trailer shows industrial facilities, mines, pipelines, and oil derricks in tundra environments alongside natural structures such as sulfurous pools, volcano cones, and rocky shorelines to explore.

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In Bohemia's announcement, the studio stated that despite the Sakhal terrain's brutality, there will be beauty at every perilous turn, making for both a terrifying yet breathtaking experience.

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Frostline Introduces New Gameplay Mechanics

And New Winter Cosmetics

With these new environments, however, come new challenges, and Frostline brings completely new, harsher survival dynamics. The DLC challenges DayZ players to manage their character's warmth as well as their resources while exploring the various structures across the land and fending off both the undead and other survivors. As if juggling all of that wasn't already challenging enough, players must also be wary of environmental hazards across the terrain, with the potential to get burnt within volcanic areas in stark contrast to nearly freezing to death everywhere else.

There's also the looming threat of new diseases, although Bohemia has yet to elaborate on what they will be. The likes of colds and influenza are currently present in the game and can be caused by lower body temperatures. As DayZ already doesn't pull any punches when it comes to disease and sickness, with any sort being potentially fatal, so whatever Frostline has in store is bound to be much worse.

The diseases currently present in the game include:

Disease Cause Cure Cholera Drinking contaminated water. Tetracycline Pills Cold Low body temperature, staying in outdoor areas in the rain for long periods of time, or interacting with other survivors with a cold. Tetracycline Pills Chemical Poisoning Drinking alcoholic tinctures, gasoline, or disinfectant spray. Charcoal Tablets Heart Attack Quick losses of blood or a great amount of shock Epinephrine Auto-injector Influenza Low body temperature, staying in outdoor areas in the rain for long periods of time, or interacting with other survivors with a cold. Tetracycline Pills Salmonella Eating uncooked or raw meat. Charcoal Tablets Brain Disease Cannibalism. None Hemolytic Reaction Receiving blood that isn't compatible with the player's blood type. None

Frostline also introduces new region-specific wildlife species that have adapted to the cold, with reindeer, arctic hares, and wolves being present through the trailer and Bohemia's accompanying screenshots. Hunting these animals will unlock new winter-themed cosmetics to better equip players for the colder environments. Alongside hunting these land animals, Bohemia promises a new enhanced fishing mechanic will be present in Frostline, but didn't elaborate further on this. Currently, the only fishing methods are by using a Fishing Rod or Fishing Traps, so it's likely that the new mechanic will involve tools used for ice fishing, as players will have to break through the frozen lakes.

It's likely that Bohemia will provide updates between now and Frostline's Fall 2024 launch to further elaborate on what these new gameplay mechanics are and how players will have to overcome these new challenges. Aside from the controversy surrounding the previous Livonia map, DayZ's new expansion looks like it will build upon the mechanics players are already familiar with while offering plenty of new kinds of terrain to explore.

Source: DayZ/Steam