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World War Z interview: PvP with a side order of zombies

Saber Interactive's zombie shooter World War Z aims to wow players with swarms of the undead, even in PvP modes.

Chris Jarrard

March 27, 2019 3:50 PM

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While zombie games may not be as fresh as they were more than a decade ago, developers with strong ideas and tight execution continue to find success and audiences willing to battle the undead. Saber Interactive is currently hard at work on creating World War Z, a third-person shooter that puts an emphasis on the cooperative experience, while also offering PvP modes for those out for a challenge from the living.

While at GDC 2019, the Shacknews street team got a chance to speak with Oliver Hollis-Leick, veteran motion capture performer and designer on World War Z. He explained the work the team is putting into the project and the different modes the team is aiming to include for release day.

In addition to the 4-player cooperative portion of the game, the team has grand plans for the PvP modes. They touch on the new King of the Hill mode, which tasks players with holding a control point while also having to contend with a violent horde of zombies. PvP games are tense enough with worrying about the other players, but the team expects the inclusion of an unpredictable, hungry mob will force players into hard choices that can make or break a round.

The World War Z game is set to exist in the World War Z movie universe. The movie released in 2013 and followed Brad Pitt as he worked with a conglomerate of surviving world powers to search for clues on how to fight the zombie epidemic. The movie itself is loosely based on a book of the same title that was written by Max Brooks, son of legendary comedian Mel Brooks.

In the original novel, the zombie outbreak was covered from multiple points of view across the globe. The movie took some liberties with the concept and focused on a single character, while also creating the fast-moving zombie hordes. The World War Z game plans to make those hordes a big focus.

World War Z is expected to release this spring for Xbox One, PS4, and exclusively to the Epic Games Store on PC.

Chris Jarrard

Contributing Tech Editor

Chris Jarrard likes playing games, crankin' tunes, and looking for fights on obscure online message boards. He understands that breakfast food is the only true food. Don't @ him.