After banning almost 25,000 players, president of H1Z1 developer Daybreak Games John Smedley said players who have pleaded apologetically to the developer in hopes of restoring their account and character were “doing it wrong.”
“If you want us to even consider your apology a public YouTube apology is necessary,” Smedley wrote on Twitter. “No personal information please. Email me the link.”
Smedley reiterated that he did not want any personal information in these YouTube apologies, but was making this request to “highlight a serious issue.” In fact, he did not want the apologies to be directed at Daybreak, but rather to “fellow players.”
“Although you hurt our business,” Smedley wrote, “this is about them not us.”
Wednesday morning, Smedley tweeted the first of such apologies, saying, “Going to be honest I wish it wasn’t about the money, but he’s first and that means something.”
First one. Going to be honest I wish it wasn't about the money, but he's first and that means something. https://t.co/s6otGIqZ25
— John Smedley (@j_smedley) May 20, 2015
Daybreak has not been one to go easy on players found cheating in their massively multiplayer online, zombie-survival game. In March, Daybreak decided it would make a mockery of players found cheating by banning them and subsequently announcing that ban to the rest of the in-game players. Not only that, but the banned player’s character was then turned into a zombie itself.
H1Z1 was released on Steam under its Early Access program on January 15, 2015 and has since sold over one million copies. A PlayStation 4 version of the game is also in development.