H1Z1 will let players vote on custom servers

SOE is going to add a little more to H1Z1 than its normal game modes. Players will also be able to vote on specialized custom player servers that will introduce different rulesets and a variety of different themes.

Ozzie Mejia

April 17, 2014 9:45 PM

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Sony Online Entertainment is putting a lot into its upcoming free-to-play zombie MMO, H1Z1. But there's no shaking the fact that it's still a zombie MMO, which is quickly becoming a crowded genre. That's why SOE is hoping to entice some potential new players by allowing them to vote on custom player servers, which will mix up the game's formula with different rules and variants.

"The idea is simple," SOE president John Smedley stated on Reddit. "If a community of our players wants to host a server with a specific theme or ruleset then we're going to do our best to give it to them. Players will recieve [sic] a pledge token for free if they've played more than 5 hours. This pledge token can be used to cast a vote for a server. But use it wisely. You only get one free one per year. Make sure it's a community you believe in and that has a good chance to succeed because we're going to set the bar such that the community can sustain an MMO server."

Players will also be able to purchase pledge tokens using SOE Station Cash. However, if the investment proves to be a wise one and the Player Server Initiative succeeds, SOE will refund that Station Cash back to the player's account.

"We really want to give you the kind of servers you want," Smedley added. "We're going to set that bar high. If it succeeds, you've built a community of fellow players you want and as our customers we want to give you that. But we also need some indication of reality in order to make this work."

H1Z1 is expected to release on PC first and later on PlayStation 4. The game is also expected to hit Steam Early Access in May, according to Polygon.

Ozzie Mejia

Senior Editor

Ozzie has been playing video games since picking up his first NES controller at age 5. He has been into games ever since, only briefly stepping away during his college years. But he was pulled back in after spending years in QA circles for both THQ and Activision, mostly spending time helping to push forward the Guitar Hero series at its peak. Ozzie has become a big fan of platformers, puzzle games, shooters, and RPGs, just to name a few genres, but he’s also a huge sucker for anything with a good, compelling narrative behind it. Because what are video games if you can't enjoy a good story with a fresh Cherry Coke?