Arma and DayZ makers’ free-to-play looter-shooter Vigor is coming to PC, half a decade after consoles

Hits early access on Steam next month, with a 1.0 around three months after that

Despite military sim series Arma and its zombie survival spin-off DayZ having their de facto home on PC, developers Bohemia Interactive opted to snub us keyboard-and-mousers for their post-DayZ game Vigor. The free-to-play survival shooter hit early access on Xbox way back in June 2018 - almost six years ago - and subsequently made its way to PlayStation and Nintendo Switch. And yet, for more than half a decade, no whisper of a PC release was heard - until now, that is.

Vigor is set in the Scandi-pocalypse of a ruined Norway in an alternate nineties, with its wasteland world of the Outlands now filled with roving groups of survivors (known as Outlanders) affiliated with various military and non-military factions. Those Outlanders are, of course, us players, who can either go it alone, pair up with a pal or form a bigger team to square off against their rival wastelanders.

Triumphing in encounters - the game’s term for modes including Shootout deathmatches, five-on-five team Elimination battles and collect-and-extract Loot Events - gives you the chance to amass resources you can invest in your own shelter, upgrading your wooden safehouse with cosmetics and utilities that grant the chance to craft better weapons and collect even more materials, in the classic survival-crafting loop.

Though Vigor is free-to-play and has been on consoles for over half a decade now - again, even the Switch got it back in 2020 - Bohemia will launch it into early access on Steam next month, with those wanting to get in before its full release needing to cough up $20 for a Reinforcements Pack that grants early access alongside various bonus weapons, an exclusive title and uniform, cosmetics, consumable items, and other such gubbins. Early access is expected to last for around three months, with any progress then being wiped (you’ll keep the stuff you’ve paid for, natch) when it hits 1.0.

“Our experience has taught us the importance of receiving early feedback from our players to polish and refine our games,” Bohemia said. “Vigor was initially developed for console platforms, and adapting it for PC presents significant challenges. We see Early Access as a means to address all challenges and issues before the full free-to-play release.”

As for why Vigor has taken so long to come to its predecessors’ home on PC, Bohemia didn’t offer anything further than acknowledging that “many requests” had been made to bring it across. Also “long requested” was an overhaul to the game’s gunplay, which will be tested as part of the PC version from the drop.

The early access release of Vigor will arrive on Steam in May - an exact date is yet to be given - before it shifts into being fully free-to-play alongside its console forebears (who you’ll be able to sparwith via cross-play) sometime towards the end of summer if all goes to plan.