Daybreak has suffered a round of layoffs just before Christmas.

The H1Z1 developer confirmed the layoffs in a statement issued to Gamasutra:

"We are optimising our structure to ensure we best position ourselves for continued success in the years to come. This effort has required us to make some changes within the organisation and we are doing everything we can to support those impacted in this difficult time.

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H1Z1 for PC has had a bit of a rough time. Despite H1Z1's recent success on PlayStation, the PC version has been dogged by complaints from the community about irregular updates and clunky mechanics, while the original Just Survive mode is to shut entirely in October. It's a problem Daybreak has been trying to tackle, as the developer appointed a new PC lead (Jace Hall). As part of a new joint venture with NantWorks called NantG Mobile, the dev team has also been reformed, and there are some major changes coming to the PC version.

The H1Z1 PC version is shortly to be renamed Z1 Battle Royale, and the new patch is the "first major step" in this transformation process. Apparently the team is making efforts to listen to the community "to prioritise features and changes that return the game to its roots as the world's most competitive BR Game".

According to the patch notes for release 1.0, one of the biggest changes includes reduced matchmaking times. Solo players will be matched based on account level, and instead of a potential wait of eight minutes, time spent in the lobby is now capped at 135 seconds - with only two players required for a match to start. Importantly, all matches will count as ranked, meaning players will still be able to progress even with small numbers of players.

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Just Survive, the survival H1Z1 video game, shuts down in October.

In a post on Steam, developer Daybreak said Just Survive goes dark at 7pm UK time on 24th October. All Steam purchases and in-game transactions have been disabled.

"The excitement of the game's promise was palpable and its loyal community is still full of ideas for its future," Daybreak said.

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Updated story (June 28th): We've heard back from Daybreak regarding the possibility of the new map launching on PS4. H1Z1 Producer, Terrence Yee had this to say:

Outbreak will launch first on PC, where our community has been eagerly anticipating it for some time, but we're open to bringing it to PS4 in the future.

Battle royale game H1Z1 has just launched a huge update that brings with it a brand new map and a raft of enhancements to the core mechanics.

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PC battle royale game H1Z1 will become free to download and play as of 6pm UK time today.

The announcement is not a surprise - H1Z1's playerbase has nosedived in recent months due to the surge in popularity of rival battle royale smash hits Fortnite and PUBG - although it comes sooner than some had expected.

It's only been a couple of weeks since H1Z1 left Early Access and gained its big Auto Royale update, which was billed as the game's big hope of sparking a revival.

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Remember H1Z1? The early Battle Royale Steam hit has seen a drastic drop in player numbers ever since PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds and Fortnite took hold of the genre. But its developers have come up with a plan to get the game back into the big time - and it involves cars.

H1Z1 (the game formerly known as H1Z1: King of the Kill) leaves Steam Early Access today with a new "Auto Royale" game mode. The developers at Daybreak describe Auto Royale as an "arcadey, vehicle-only" Battle Royale experience. Essentially, it's Battle Royale with cars.

The mode sees up to 30 teams of four battle to be the last vehicle standing. There's a massive map packed with power-ups, weapons, ammo, fuel and health. Auto Royale introduces two new vehicles to the game: a sedan and an armored recon vehicle (ARV). Expect ramps, land mines, oil slicks, turbo boosts, vehicle jumps, corrosive smoke and more.

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A note from the editor: Jelly Deals is a deals site launched by our parent company, Gamer Network, with a mission to find the best bargains out there. Look out for the Jelly Deals roundup of reduced-price games and kit every Saturday on Eurogamer.

It's that time again, folks. We've survived another month and we're collectively carving a path directly through November. This month brings a whole lot of stuff with it, from the annual Call of Duty release to a potentially terrifying amount of Black Friday games deals headed our way in a couple of weeks.

Over at Humble, of course, a new month means it's time for a brand new set of stuff from the site's Humble Monthly subscription service. If you were a subscriber this time last month, you'll now have access to the previous batch of game keys. Last month's full range ended up being the following:

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