The zombie apocalypse survival game DayZ will enter beta in the fourth quarter of next year, with developer Bohemia Interactive revealing future milestones that include vehicles, zombie AI fixes and base building.

DayZ celebrates its one year anniversary next month. What began life as a popular mod for Arma 2 in 2012 launched on December 16th, 2013 as a standalone alpha through Steam's Early Access program. It reached 1 million units sold a month later. Today the team at Bohemia Interactive marked the anniversary with a laundry list of expected updates and enhancements, and set a date of the third quarter of 2015 for the beginning of their beta.

First on the list the DayZ team plans to add vehicles, as well as a new zombie AI system. Combined with a new graphics renderer and a new user interface it will make for a dramatic improvement to the player experience. The balance of the feature set coming in 2015 includes traps, barricades and player bases, aerial transport, predatory animals and an upgradeable player skill system.

Finally, the team says that its console prototype will be ready some time in the third quarter. That means that players could be roaming Chernarus on the PlayStation 4 by late next year.

The time to purchase DayZ is now says the publisher. The price has gone up to $34.99, but during the current Steam sale it has been discounted 15 percent to $29.74.

"You can expect a new price point for DayZ which will be 34.99 USD," reads a press release. "This is part of a gradual price change as we progress with the development, and reach the goals that we set for the project. We would like to avoid a sudden increase in price once we hit the final release version."

"If you want to start surviving in DayZ, then now is the best time to get involved."

The game's final release will take place in the first half of 2016, at a cost of $49.99.