Unturned

Unturned is a partly free-to-play zombie survival/survival horror game by Smartly Dressed Games, a studio consisting of Canadian game designer Nelson Sexton and a community administrator who goes by "MoltonMontro".^[1][2] It was released for Windows, macOS, and Linux in early access on July 7, 2014. The full game released three years later, on July 17, 2017. Unturned allows players to create custom maps using an in-game editor. Cosmetics and mods can also be created using the game's Unity engine, which allows them to publish creations on the Steam Workshop. A retail version of the game was released for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One by 505 Games in November 2020.^[3] It was later ported to Nintendo Switch on March 21, 2024.^[4][5]

Unturned
Artwork shown on the Steam page
Developer(s)	Smartly Dressed Games
Publisher(s)	505 Games[a]
Designer(s)	Nelson Sexton
Engine	Unity
Platform(s)	Windows, macOS, Linux, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch
Release	Windows, macOS, Linux July 8, 2017 Xbox One, PS4 November 12, 2020 Nintendo Switch March 21, 2024
Genre(s)	Survival
Mode(s)	Single-player, multiplayer

Gameplay

Unturned features several different game modes, all with the same basic concept of zombie survival. The game also has multiple difficulty settings.

In the survival game mode, the player's character is spawned on a game map with clothes depending on their skill set.^[6] Players must find weapons and supplies to survive against the zombies. As the player progresses through the game, they gain experience points that can be used for upgrades or, on specific maps, as currency for trading. Survival mode is also available in multiplayer. The more significant aim is survival, but the players may work collaboratively or fight each other. Players must maintain their health, food, water, and radiation levels. Players can take radiation damage from zombie attacks or by entering "deadzones" without proper protective equipment. The multiplayer option has created a platform for various gameplay, such as survival, roleplay, creative, paintball, and battle royal matches. The game has a chance to give players cosmetic items, like clothing or special effects for their character, or "camouflage" or "skins" which can modify the appearance of players' weapons. Players can also purchase cosmetic items, loot boxes (keys and cases), and other items from the Steam Market.

There are several official maps based on real-world locations, including PEI (Prince Edward Island), Washington (the U.S. state), Yukon (the Canadian Territory), Russia, and Germany.^[7]

The game supports using the Steam Workshop to add custom items, vehicles, armor, and weapons to enhance or change the basic experience. Many popular user-created maps are curated, and many custom skins for items in the base game are added with updates. Although the game supports mods, the game's files are closed source, and players cannot add new categories of assets; they must instead place their creations in an already existing category.

Arena game mode is for multiplayer only. Players are spawned in the middle of a map with supplies and weapons scattered around. The winner is the last person, or the last team, alive. Players may die due to being slain by other players or crossing the map's boundaries. The game will also spawn helpful items like armor, attachments for guns, and the three types of health items. These items are essential, as the game has an intense bleeding out mechanic that can finish a player without medical supplies. The game will also spawn vehicles, enabling players to avoid the border or roadkill other players. The arena mode grants a massive advantage to teams in arena mode. Since there are no separate solo/squad modes, solo players will be up against teams that can aid each other. The game does not require teams to fight each other so that multiple players can win.

Plot

The game's story is can be found in written notes and environmental storytelling spread out across all of its official maps.

On the Washington map there is a lab belonging to a company known as Scorpion-7. Outside the lab, there is an overrun military unit. In the basement of the lab, there are canisters containing zombies in stasis, and one of the canisters is broken. Also in the building there is an apology note, and the implication is that the writer was attacked before the note was completed. The Scorpion-7 lab is assumed to be ground zero for the start of the zombie outbreak, and while the exact origin and the cause of the outbreak remain vague, it is heavily implied that the virus was inadvertently created through the company's bioweapons research when a test subject escaped from their containment.

The player is introduced as one of the few survivors of the outbreak, alluding to the idea that the player has not "turned" into a zombie. The player has the option of helping the Coalition, an organization fighting the outbreak and locating survivors.

Sexton has built more lore for the world over the years. Some plot points revolve around real-world historical elements such as prehistoric Russia and the Roswell incident.^[8]

Development

Unturned was developed by Nelson Sexton, an indie game developer from Calgary, Canada.^[9] He was sixteen at the time of Unturned's first release.^[1][10] Sexton has been developing games since he was nine.^[9] His first games, Battlefield and Deadzone, were created in Roblox and became two of the most popular games on the platform at the time.^[10] Deadzone was a zombie-survival game similar to Unturned. Neither of Nelson's original Roblox games are still on Roblox, as they were both made private due to security issues, which resulted in Roblox being flooded with copies of both games.^{[citation needed]}

Unturned was originally listed in May 2014 as "Unturned 2.0" on Steam Greenlight, Steam's early access platform.^[11] The game was officially released on July 7, 2017.^[12][13] Sexton has discussed plans to create a sequel to the game named Unturned II using Unreal Engine,^[14] but development of the sequel has since been put on hold.^[15]

Reception and community

According to gaming website Kotaku, Unturned was one of Steam's most popular games in mid-2014.^[16] Both Kotaku and Rock, Paper, Shotgun characterized the game's popularity as unexpected, since the game is mainly developed by a single person without a major studio's resources.^[16][17] PC Gamer said that while Unturned had "few real ideas on its own", it was a "simple, accessible survival-simulator" that players may enjoy provided they could "stomach the low production values".^[18] By October 2022 the game broke its peak lifetime player count record with 93,161 concurrent players.^[19] As of May 2025^[update], 91% of all Steam reviews of the game are positive.^[20]

Reviewers have noted the game's similarity to 7 Days to Die,^[21][22] DayZ,^{[18][22][23][24]} Minecraft,^[18][24][25] Project Zomboid,^[22][24][26] and Rust.^[22][24]

Unturned is known for its very vocal and passionate community. Fans interact on the game's community board on Steam, and on the official forum, called the SDG Forum.^[27] Sexton frequently interacts with the community,^[9] and brought Tyler "MoltonMontro", an active long-time community member, into Smartly Dressed Games in an official capacity around 2019.^[28] There is also an Unturned community on YouTube which is sometimes cited as a major reason the game became popular.^[9] Notable YouTubers who have made videos about the game include PewDiePie,^[29] Jacksepticeye,^[30] DanTDM,^[31] and Ruben Sim (who played it as an alternative to Roblox after he was permanently banned by the Roblox Corporation).^[32]

Notes

1. Published by Smartly Dressed Games on PC platforms