If you cast your mind back to 2013, you might remember a new survival horror called 7 Days to Die releasing on early access.

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Ten years later and it's still not had its full release... but that's about to change. A release date and a game-changing patch are very close.

It's a cool concept: The player has fight to off zombies, while simultaneously making sure they craft a decent defence in time for the gigantic horde.

So, when is the nail-biting horror releasing properly, and what changes will come with 1.0? Let's take a look.

When is the 7 Days to Die full release date?

The 7 Days to Die full release date, as confirmed on the game's official website, will be staggered across these dates:

  • Experimental Beta: 24th June 2024
  • Stable PC Release: 25th July 2024
  • Console Release: 25th July 2024

So, there's an 'experimental beta' going live today, which should give you a taste of 1.0, and then there's the full release in a month's time.

What is the UK launch time for 7 Days to Die 1.0?

According to fans on Reddit, the developers said during a live stream that 7 Days to Die's experimental 1.0 beta will launch in the USA at 12pm CST on 24th June.

Here in the UK, that translates to 6pm BST today. Barring any last-minute twists, that should be your UK launch time.

Remember: this is the 'experimental beta' that we mentioned in the previous section, so you might want to expect a few teething problems!

Of course, things can always change, but here's hoping you'll be able to jump into action this evening.

7 Days to Die 1.0 patch notes: What’s changing?

So, what are the big changes that will come with patch 1.0, and how will the new game differ from its 2013 early-access version?

The complete patch notes have been released by the developers over on the community boards, which you can check out now - but we'll share exactly what they said down below:

New armour system

  • All new art
  • Replaces old clothing and armour systems
  • Themed armour sets like farmer, lumberjack, commando
  • Armour sets still consist of pieces that can be mixed and matched
  • Acquire and wear the complete set for a bonus
  • First-person hands reflect what you’re wearing

New player character system

  • All new player character base models to choose from
  • Customise appearance with different parts like face, eyes, hair, facial hair
  • Redone animations to support the new characters and armour
  • New shaders for hair, eyes and skin
  • Updated player profile editor

New zombie variants

  • Individual zombies will spawn with one of several albedo texture variants
  • Tech allows for one zombie model to have different clothing designs, hair colours, skin colours, etc
  • Performs better than old UMA zombies

New animal art

  • Animals use a new fur shader
  • New stag
  • New cougar with new animations
  • New bear
  • New pig and/or boar
  • New coyote
  • New wolf
  • New rabbit
  • New Grace (mutated boar)

New vehicle art

  • Vehicle appearance changes depending on the mods installed
  • New bicycle
  • New minibike
  • New motorcycle
  • New 4x4
  • New gyrocopter

New points of interest (POIs)

  • Tier 4 army camp
  • Tier 5 school
  • Haven Hotel
  • Tier 2 commercial business strip
  • Tier 5 football stadium
  • Tier 2 apartment building
  • More wilderness POIs unconnected to roads to discover
  • New POI trigger improvements, like AND/OR logic for doors

RWG improvements

  • Reduced memory usage
  • Improved stamp performance
  • Faster road generation
  • Improved road smoothing
  • Roads carve through mountains
  • Improvements to RWG preview camera
  • Improved UI layout for RWG creation
  • New biome generation algorithm places fewer blocky biomes, insures all biomes are present, and may put one biome in the centre
  • Burnt forest biome is back in RWG

New props/world art

  • Pallets of recycled cans and cardboard
  • Campsite tents
  • Road decals
  • Can place blocks on top of road paint

New graphics & visual effects

  • Fire barrel
  • New blood effects when bleeding
  • New blood effects when dismembered
  • New gore art/tech for dismembered zombies
  • New contact shadows and ambient occlusion

Optimisation/Performance

  • A new window tinting system makes window glass opaque until you get close. Occluding the interior improves performance, especially for skyscrapers
  • Game updated to Unity 2022 LTS with better Vulkan and DX12 support
  • New lighting update manager
  • Ambient occlusion better handles large amounts of props
  • Block entities (props) spawn over multiple frames
  • Gameplay balancing is ongoing

Console Edition

  • Version 1.0 will be released for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S along with Windows/Mac/Linux
  • It will be the same game on PC and console, with the same features and content
  • TFP are in talks hoping to offer a discount for players that own the legacy 2016 console release
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Authors

Ben Huxley, RadioTimes.com contributor
Ben HuxleyFreelance Writer

Ben Huxley is a freelance contributor to Radio Times, with bylines also in TechRadar, WhatCulture, GAMINGbible, and Live Science. A writer of fiction, too, he has a few short stories published and a novel on the way. He has a BA in English Literature, and an MA in creative writing.

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