THE DEAD WE KNEW: Open World Survival
THE DEAD WE KNEW: Open World Survival screenshot 1THE DEAD WE KNEW: Open World Survival screenshot 2
ActionAdventureRPGSimulationOpen WorldSurvivalExplorationZombiesThird-Person Shooter

13 playing

Peak in the last 24 hours: 33

THE DEAD WE KNEW: Open World Survival Early Access Steam store

Game description

Explore a dangerous open world, loot abandoned places, build your shelter, produce food, and manage your resources. Survive alone or in co-op against zombies, hostile humans, and the growing dangers that come with the fog.

Basic info

DeveloperMAY19 STUDIO
PublisherMAY19 STUDIO
PlatformsWindows
Steam DeckUnsupported
Release dateOct 22, 2026
Price
  • Steam store −15% $22.50 $19.12 · Steam ↗

Minimum specs

OSWindows 10
Memory12 GB
GraphicsNVIDIA GTX 1070 or equivalent
Storage20 GB
steamyze

Review Analysis Score

Based on 187 reviews from the past 1 year

36.0/ 100
Bottom 1%

Steam rating: Mostly Negative (25%)

Review analysis summary (Reviewed Oct 31, 2026)

Reviewers see potential in this early access zombie survival game, but bugs and missing guidance hold it to 36.0.

👍 Strengths

35 reviews still enjoy it, and some say it passes the time well and is fun to explore with a partner. A few accept the rough state and plan to stick with it while the game grows. 17 praise the visuals, with some pointing to good character animations and an easy building system. 14 credit developers who push updates quickly and listen to the community. Visuals & Sound ranks 1216th of 1249, and Story & World ranks 1048th of 1096.

👎 Where it falls short

Tech & Support appears in 67% of analyzed reviews and ranks 1348th of 1399. 58 reviews describe bugs, such as corrupted saves, items that vanish or turn into other items and loot lost after death. 27 say the game does a poor job helping new players learn, with no tutorial, no map markers and systems that need trial and error to understand. 23 find the controls and combat unreliable, with attacks that miss at close range and ledges that cannot be grabbed. Gameplay ranks 1390th of 1396.

Representative reviews Original reviews ↗

“save corrupted twice, items disappear and get replaced with wrong items” · 58 reviews
“hitbox detection inconsistent; attacks miss at close range” · 23 reviews
“lacks endgame goals and sense of purpose beyond base building” · 11 reviews

How it holds up

−50+5

Controls, difficulty, progression and depth
Mentioned in 79% of reviews · Bottom 1% of the games we've analyzed

Controls & feel -2.91 · Responsiveness, precision, and how the menus handle
Negative “hitbox detection inconsistent; attacks miss at close range” · 23 reviews

Progression 28% · Difficulty 24% · Onboarding 41% · Freedom 26% · Strategy 10%

Plot, characters and the world
Mentioned in 12% of reviews · Bottom 5% of the games we've analyzed

Story -1.91 · Plot, quests, writing, and the ending

Characters 0% · World 12%

How much there is to do, variety and replay value
Mentioned in 26% of reviews · Bottom 5% of the games we've analyzed

Volume -2.50 · How much there is to play, including endgame, for the price
Negative “lacks endgame goals and sense of purpose beyond base building” · 11 reviews

Variety 9% · Replayability 1%

Graphics, art style, music and sound
Mentioned in 27% of reviews · Bottom 5% of the games we've analyzed

Audio -2.48 · Music, sound effects, and voice acting
Negative “sound effects terrible, enemies silent, footsteps behind player” · 2 reviews
Positive “storm and weapon sounds are immersive and well-designed” · 1 review

Visuals 21%

Playing with others, the community and servers
Mentioned in 14% of reviews · Bottom 10% of the games we've analyzed

Playing together -1.09 · Fun of playing with friends, teammates, or rivals
Negative “maximum 4 players in same game, poor multiplayer experience” · 1 review
Positive “fun with friends, 4 hours of co-op enjoyment” · 5 reviews

Community 2% · Servers & Connection 1%

Pricing, cheaters, balance and matchmaking
Mentioned in 35% of reviews · Bottom 10% of the games we've analyzed

Balance -0.61 · Whether classes, weapons, and builds are evenly matched

Anti-cheat 0% · Pricing 13% · Matchmaking 0%

Bugs, performance and developer support
Mentioned in 67% of reviews · Bottom 5% of the games we've analyzed

Stability -1.75 · Crashes, freezes, save loss, and game-breaking bugs
Negative “save corrupted twice, items disappear and get replaced with wrong items” · 58 reviews

Performance 14% · Developer support 39%

Grey means too few reviews mention it to trust. — means almost no reviews mention it.

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