DayZ Badlands Will Cost About $24.99, Creator Preview Is Scheduled for Oct. 8
Accepted creators will get six to seven days with the expansion, but radio gameplay will remain unavailable until its October 15 launch.
DayZ Badlands will cost approximately $24.99, with regional pricing varying, and Bohemia Interactive is bringing back its Creator Program for the expansion’s launch. The studio shared both details in its Oct. 2 Steam announcement.
Bohemia cited Nasdara, a new terrain made specifically for DayZ, and the expansion’s added features when explaining the price. The studio says all planned core gameplay features remain on track for the October 15, 2026, release.
Badlands’ planned features remain on track
The expansion’s core plans include:
- Sandstorms
- Rebuilding mechanics and houses players can restore
- Motorcycles and their accompanying physics
- Radio gameplay, including Morse code signals that lead to underground shelters
- Regional firearms, clothing, and loot
- Regional wildlife, including dogs, desert monitors, and mouflons
- Regional diseases
- Underground facilities and infrastructure built with a new terrain-hole system, which will also be available for other maps and the modding community
The creator preview will run before launch
The event is scheduled for October 8 through the morning of October 15, giving accepted creators six to seven days to stream the expansion. Bohemia said the length follows a format that worked for DayZ Frostline. The studio also wants time to gather feedback for future updates and patches.
Radio gameplay will not be available during the preview. It will arrive with DayZ Badlands, and Bohemia recommends that creators mark their stream titles with a “Spoiler” tag for players who want to discover Nasdara without advance details.
The program is open to streamers, video creators, and modders who can stream the game on services such as Twitch, YouTube, or TikTok and sign up through the DayZ creator portal, which uses Lurkit. Bohemia’s internal guideline is 5,000 to 10,000 subscribers or at least 50 concurrent viewers on a relevant platform. The studio says it will be flexible, though inactive channels or those well below its benchmarks may be passed over. Facebook, Instagram, and Steam Curator applications will not be supported.
Bohemia will review applications and send pre-release keys to approved creators. Existing program members will receive a Lurkit notification for key activation, but admission is manual and may be delayed by capacity. Participants will need to provide their Steam ID and have access to the event’s private Discord channel. Creators from outside North America and Europe can apply, though the studio plans to start with about two servers in each region and says participants from elsewhere must be comfortable playing on those servers.
Creators can make content during the preview, but they must wait to publish it until the embargo lifts on the morning of release day. After submitting their stream content through Lurkit, participants will receive a retail key and additional keys for community giveaways. Videos submitted for those keys must include the DayZ Badlands wishlist link.
Bohemia also set a strict Code of Conduct for the event. Violations can cost creators their current access and future collaborations, with penalties that may extend to a permanent game ban.
Does a six-to-seven-day preview give creators enough time to cover Badlands before launch? For more on the creator event and Nasdara’s new systems, stay connected on X, Bluesky, YouTube, Instagram, Steam, and Telegram.
