Perennial early access game Project Zomboid hit a new concurrent player record after a huge map update added reworked towns, a spooky orphanage and ‘400 procedural basements’

It’s been a big week for Project Zomboid, the wildly successful zombie survival sim that, like a doomsday prepper holed up in a fortified basement, simply refuses to leave Steam early access. Its first major build update since 2021 coincided with a slight price increase for The Indie Stone’s undead phenomenon, but this didn’t stop the game from setting a new record for concurrent players on Steam.

As detailed on the Project Zomboid blog, build 42.20 brings an extensive overhaul to the game’s setting of Knox County. For starters, seven of its towns have been completely reworked with new art that gives each settlement its own distinct architectural style, completely unique buildings and houses, and improved landscaping between the buildings.

In addition, the surface area of the map has been doubled, bringing the total number of tiles to 35,000. This map expansion brings with it multiple new and overhauled locations to explore, including a boy scout camp, an “entirely new” prison, and everybody’s favourite spooky locale, an abandoned orphanage.

My favourite stat of all is that the build adds “400 procedural basements”. There’s no specific reason for that—I just like the idea of needing to procedurally generate a basement. Not all of Project Zomboid’s basements are subject to algorithmic whims, however. There are also 75 unique basements that you may stumble upon during your adventures.

Alongside the changes to the map, build 42 expands Project Zomboid at a mechanical level. It introduces new animals like cows and chickens, while also making changes to the hunting and trapping system, opening up new opportunities for farming and wilderness survival. The update also brings an improved stealth system, fishing refinements, and the ability to drag corpses.

It’s a significant update, and The Indie Stone has increased the price of Project Zomboid to reflect that. Prior to Build 42, Project Zomboid cost $20 (£16.75), but that’s now been raised to $25 (£22.50), which is a substantial hike. But that didn’t stop the game from reaching a new all-time player concurrent on Steam, with nearly 79,552 players flocking to Steam to check out the update in the early hours of Friday.

With build 42 now out, The Indie Stone’s attention will presumably turn to the next planned update, which will herald the long-anticipated return of NPC survivors to Knox County. Given the average length of time between more recent Project Zomboid builds, I wouldn’t expect to see this surface for a few years yet.

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