The creators of DayZ and Icarus, RocketWerkz, have announced a significant DLC for Icarus, titled Great Hunts. This expansion promises to add a wealth of new content to the already challenging survival game.

Originally launched in 2021, Icarus quickly gained recognition for its demanding gameplay and unforgiving environments.  The game has since received numerous patches addressing various bugs and improving overall stability.

RocketWerkz, founded by Dean Hall, the original creator of DayZ, has a history of developing immersive survival experiences. Hall initially created DayZ as a mod for ARMA 2 while working at Bohemia Interactive. The mod's immense popularity led to Hall leading development on a standalone DayZ version.  Following his departure from Bohemia Interactive in 2014, Hall founded RocketWerkz and released titles such as Out of Ammo and Stationeers, with Icarus being their most ambitious project to date.

Icarus is known for its punishing permadeath system, but the Great Hunts DLC aims to make the experience slightly more forgiving.  Players losing their characters will have new options to mitigate the impact of permadeath.

The Great Hunts DLC will initially feature three hunts: Quarrite on Olympus, Gargantuan on Styx, and Rimetusk on Prometheus, with more planned for the future. Completing these hunts will unlock new bosses, each possessing unique abilities and challenges.  Importantly, the developers have confirmed that the DLC is not required to enjoy updated game mechanics, as many base game features will receive free updates alongside the DLC's release.

While no specific release date has been announced, the Great Hunts expansion is expected to launch soon.

Icarus's difficulty has been a topic of discussion since launch, prompting developers to address concerns regarding character death and permadeath. In 2022, an insurance option was introduced, allowing players to respawn at the space station after succumbing to permadeath during insured missions.  While DayZ, another creation of Dean Hall, is also considered a difficult game, it doesn't reach the same level of challenge as Icarus.

DayZ is often praised as one of the best loot survival games, featuring realistic mechanics like bleeding, hunger, and disease.  Players must scavenge for resources in a hostile, zombie-infested world. Icarus borrows many survival elements from DayZ, including resource gathering and the ever-present threat of permadeath, but transplants the gameplay to an alien planet.

One key difference between the two games is the world design. DayZ boasts a massive open world, whereas Icarus offers large, session-based maps for players to explore during missions, providing a more structured gameplay experience.  Both titles have cultivated dedicated fanbases, and Icarus players can now look forward to the substantial content coming with the Great Hunts DLC.