After the standalone Day Z release failed to engage me I looked forward to H1Z1 as the next big thing in the open world survival genre. Unfortunately the entire game fell in to the very same trap as Day Z, the zombies were not menacing enough so hunting other players was by far the more exciting option.

However, with the split announced today that will divide H1Z1 in to a competitive Battle Royale game and an open-world zombie survival game I once again have hope that the features I first saw advertised so long ago will actually come to fruition. Here's how exactly the split will go down:

First of all H1Z1 is being split in to two games: H1Z1: Just Survive and H1Z1: King of the Kill.

Just Survive will continue where the rather neglected survival mode of H1Z1 left off, this time with a renewed focus on providing a persistent, open-world zombie survival experience filled with crafting, scavenging, base building and teaming up with other players rather than shooting on sight (or at least I hope so).

King of the Kill on the other hand will continue with H1Z1's current direction, that is focusing on fast-past shooty action throughout multiple game modes, including the surprisingly popular Battle Royal.

Personally I don't see the appeal of Battle Royale but each to his own I say

Once the split occurs on February 17th both games will be available as individual Early Access titles for $19,99 each with no future plans of making either version a free to play title. Current owners of H1Z1 will get both games for free so if you really want to grab them then head over to Steam where H1Z1 is currently 25% off.

If you've spent any money on the in-game shop don't worry, your existing keys, crates and items will be duplicated across both games. Mind you this is only for items bought before the split, once the split happens the two games will be treated as separate entities entirely.

Finally, H1Z1: King of the Kill will be leaving Early Access and officially releasing for the PC, PS4 and Xbox One in the summer of 2016. H1Z1: Just Survive still has no estimate and I wouldn't recommend you get your hopes up about it leaving Early Access any time soon given the rather basic state its in right now.

And there you have it, that's everything you need to know about the H1Z1 split. Personally I'm rather glad the split is happening because for the longest time H1Z1 was stuck with two completely polar-opposite player bases that just resulted in a lot of compromises, which is a code word for making both sides unhappy.

Hopefully with the two games now completely separate each camp will get plenty of new toys to play around with.