7 Days To Die Alpha 21 Start Time Countdown: Release Date News & More

Here's everything we need to know about the release date and roadmap for the 7 Days To Die Alpha 21 build.

First Published June 12, 2023, 21:22

With 7 Days To Die currently in its Alpha 20 build, many fans are speculating as to when the developers will release the next significant content update, which is the highly anticipated Alpha 21 build of the zombie survival sandbox video game.

If you're in the same boat, then you're not alone, and luckily we have some answers for your below. We'll be going through everything you need to know about the Alpha 21 build of 7 Days To Die, including its release date, what to expect in terms of the newly added features, and much more. So let's dive right in.

12 June Update - We've checked for the latest news and leaks regarding 7 Days To Die Alpha 21.

Table of Contents

Latest News

We'll keep you updated on all the latest news and leaks just below:

12 June 2023 - IT'S OUT NOW!

The 7 Days To Die Alpha 21 Public Experimental Build is out now! 

Here is how you can access the A21 Experimental build:

12 June 2023 - Public Experimental Today?

According to the devs, players could expect "a public experimental to follow sometime Monday afternoon June 12th."

However, at the time of writing, we've not seen any news from the team. Unless it's been pushed back.

More to follow...

6 June 2023 - Alpha 21 Streamer Weekend Starts Today!

The ‘Alpha 21 Streamer Weekend’ is finally here!

The Fun Pimps will be running the Streamer Weekend event from Friday, June 9th starting at 12 pm CST through Sunday, June 11th.

A public experimental release (should) follow sometime Monday afternoon on June 12th.

There are 185 streamers from 34 countries playing the game this weekend and many will be giving away Free Game Keys. Check their channels for their upcoming weekend schedules.

You can find more info on the streamer weekend, here. 

5 June 2023 - Dev Team Announces Another Livestream

The development team at The Fun Pimps has announced another upcoming livestream to showcase Alpha 21. This time though, it's with the QA team, and there will be more free keys to give out.

Make sure you tune in on June 7th for the stream.

Hey Folks! The QA Team with Host & Sr. Developer Lathan (@fubar_prime) will be streaming an A21 Playthrough on June 7th at 9 PM CST. Tune in for Free Keys! pic.twitter.com/llKbII12Ie

29 May 2023 - Devs have gone quiet

Since the last update on 11 May 2023, devs at The Fun Pimps appear to have gone quiet.

It had felt as though the devs might have been gearing up for a May release given all the info fans were getting, but it would seem like that's not the case.

Hopefully, we'll learn more in early June.

11 May 2023 - Did somebody say 'new flags'

6 May 2023 - Catch up on the Latest A21 Dev Stream

If you missed the most recent A21 Dev stream, which focussed on the programming team updates coming to the game, then don't worry, you can catch up with the YouTube vid below:

1 May 2023 - 7 Days To Die Hosting Another Dev Stream Wednesday

Who fancies another Dev Stream? On May 3rd the Fun Pimps will host their third stream to discuss new and updated features coming to the game in A21.

Also, they'll be handing out free keys for the game. 

24 April 2023 - 7 Days To Die Accepting Applications For Alpha 21

7 Days To Die is now accepting applications for its upcoming Alpha 21 testing phase.

As a reminder, if you were part of the A20 Streamer Weekend, then you already qualify for the A21 Streamer Weekend.

That being said, there is still no release date for Alpha 21, and once again the devs have said it will be ready "when it's ready".

23 April 2023 - New Dev Stream Recap and Alpha 22 News?

Once again the developers at The Fun Pimps have covered a lot of new info about 7 Days To Die Alpha 21 in a new dev stream, this time dedicated to the updated artwork coming to the game.

If you missed it, don't worry, you can catch the whole thing on the link above. Alternatively, If you would prefer to watch a condensed recap video instead, YouTuber IzPrebuilt has managed to pull together everything important you may have missed in this short 6-minute summary you can watch below. 

15 April 2023 - Another Alpha 21 Dev Stream Announced

Looks like fans can look forward to a second developer stream on 19 April to look at some of the new art coming to the game as part of Alpha 21. 

Fans will be able to tune in on Twitch using the link below.

13 April 2023 - Alpha 21 Dev Stream Recap

The Fun Pimps 7 Days To Die Alpha 21 dev stream has now been and gone. If you missed it, don't worry, you can catch the whole thing on the link above. Although fair warning, it is two hours and sixteen minutes long.

If you would prefer to watch a condensed recap video instead, YouTuber IzPrebuilt has managed to pull together everything important you may have missed in a 9-minute summary you can watch below.

10 April 2023 - Alpha 21 Developer Stream Announced!

The developers at The Fun Pimps have announced a 7 Days to Daylight Alpha 21 developer stream taking place on Twitch later this week!

The stream starts April 12 at 9pm CST, which is 2am UTC on April 13.

Will we finally get a release date for Alpha 21? We sure hope so!

4 April 2023 - Is Alpha 21 Coming Soon?

We're widely expecting the next major update for 7 Days To Die to arrive at some point later this year, with no official release date penciled in at the time of writing.

But given the influx of previews for Alpha 21 from the team on Twitter, it's got us thinking that maybe we're getting a lot closer to release?

Hopefully, there's another Dev update or livestream just around the corner...

1 April 2023 - A look at some new Trader POI's coming in Alpha 21

Here’s a look at one of the all new updated Trader POIs coming soon to Alpha 21. Great work by TFP Level and Art Teams. pic.twitter.com/y5ALENrZIO

31 March 2023 - A look at some new Cabins

We’ve got Cabin fever over all the new and updated cabins coming soon to Alpha 21! Great work by the TFP Level Design crew! pic.twitter.com/6v7ACbQr7e

28 March 2023 - Take a look at the new workbench model

This new workbench is a real piece work! Concept by James and model by Yongha. Just one of hundreds of new and redone props coming soon to Alpha 21. Stay Tuned! pic.twitter.com/YVfjTdAs89

30 March 2023 - A look at the updated downtown business strip

26 March 2023 - Another new and updated POI Coming in Alpha 21

You’ll crap your pants when you see this new nursing home designed by Hernan. This is just one of the hundreds of new and updated POIs coming soon to Alpha 21. Stay Tuned! pic.twitter.com/7Vl7dtRNA5

21 March 2023 - New Vending Machine!

19 March 2023 - A Look At A New POI

You wait ages for one teaser, and then two come along in the same week.

Now the devs have shared a look at a new Tier 5 Army Camp POI coming to Alpha 21.

Hooah and Thank you for your service. Here's a new Tier 4 Army Camp POI coming soon to Alpha 21. Great work by Level Designer Earl! pic.twitter.com/ZVef2wIUTj

16 March 2023 - New content!

A sneak peek at a brand new forge coming to the game in Alpha 21!

13 January 2023 - A sneak peek at some content from the next Alpha

The developers have shared a behind-the-scenes look at a new player model and clothing system animation, which is planned for the "next Alpha".

Unfortunately, still no word on precisely when this next Alpha will launch.

Yippee ki yay! Naked Cowboys confirmed! Here is a sneak peak at the new player model and clothing system coming to the next Alpha. Great work by the Character and Animation Team! pic.twitter.com/nRJa0TlfRF

7 Days To Die Alpha 21 Release Date Speculation

UPDATE - During the Alpha 21 dev stream, Rick Huenink, Co-Founder of The Fun Pimps confirmed a May 2023 release for Alpha 21. 
Speaking on the stream, Huenick said: "Wishful thinking is early may, I think you know mid-may is probably more realistic".

As it currently stands, we don't have an official release date for the Alpha 21 build of 7 Days To Die, and according to the official Alpha 21 Developer Diary, the game has been labeled with a release date that reads "Done When It's Done".

But even with an unclear release date for the next build, we can speculate on when it will drop.

The game will typically receive one significant update per year from the developer. Although there will undoubtedly be several smaller experimental updates throughout the year, the game generally releases a new build once a year. Since the most recent Alpha 20 was released in December 2021, Alpha 21 will likely arrive in early to mid-2023.

What To Expect From 7 Days To Die Alpha 21

According to the official Alpha 21 Developer Diary, the new build will come with a host of new content updates, fixes, and much more. Below you can find a full list of everything expected to release in the Alpha 21 build. 

• New Places of Interest
• New Decorations
  • Cars, trucks, tractors
  • Furniture and many many new items
• Additional Advanced World Generation Options
  • Biome Percent Sliders (included in Alpha 20.6)
• Learn By Reading System
  • 23 new skills to govern the crafting system 
  • 23 new magazines added to loot
  • Perks no longer unlock recipes or govern crafting at all
  • The only schematics that still unlock recipes are mod attachments. 
  • Crafting skill is increased by finding and reading magazines
  • Skill increases unlock recipes at certain points as well as increase the quality of crafting for items with quality
  • Each tech level has a separate range in the skill spectrum so that you have to work up through primitive tech and then iron tech and then steel tech and being able to craft a blue stone axe no long means you automatically can also craft a blue iron axe.
  •  Some skills have 100 levels but others have fewer depending on how many unlocks there are for recipes and quality tiers.
  • A new skill page showing your progress has been added to the player interface 
  • Skill magazines can be found, bought, and/or received as quest rewards. The topic of the magazine matches the location you would expect to find it in the world.
  • Perks slightly affect the probability of finding like-themed magazines and parts for those recipes. Perk into shotguns and you will notice more shotgun magazines and shotgun parts appearing in the world. It isn't a significant bonus but it does prevent the player from being screwed over.
  • When you max out a skill, that slight probability bonus granted by perks for finding the corresponding magazine for that skill drops off. The magazine will still show up randomly in loot but no longer have a boost. The probability boost for finding matching parts will remain.
• Interactive Environmental Hazards 
• Doors
  • Double Doors
  • Partially damaged doors with large holes can be shot/meleed through to damage enemies on the other side
• Water Simulation
  • All new water coding--water is no longer a block but a water voxel
  • Water voxels flow into neighboring voxels that are marked to allow it.
  • Water can be in the same space as a block
  • Water does not flow or fall continuously like a river or a waterfall
  • Player movement in water has been enhanced

• Armor
  • New Iron Armor 
  • New Commando Military Armor
  • More details to come.
• Drinking Water Rebalance
  • Murky water is only water found in loot
  • Empty Glass bottles were removed from the game to match all the rest of the containers in the game
  • A dew collector work station added
  • Players can drink directly from water sources with an empty hand by pressing "e"
  • Pot is now required to boil murky water
  • Glue crafting has been taken into consideration
• Spears
  • Spear damage increased
  • A spear power attack is a thrust instead of a throw
  • Throw attack for spears removed
• Chunk Reset Option
  • Default is disabled
  • Options for days up to 70 days
  • The chunk resets to its pre-generated state if no player has entered the chunk after the number of days selected.
  • An active LCB or bedroll will prevent a chunk from resetting.

7 Days To Die Alpha 21 Rumors

According to a recent interview with the developers of 7 Days To Die, we received a bit of insight into what we can expect from the Alpha 21 build of the game. During the interview, it was stated that the dev team has been working on "redoing old systems that were placeholders or very old and refining existing systems as well as working on new systems, but we're moving more towards polishing and refining".

They also go on to mention that there are three new key features that they want to add in the new build, such as a change they want to implement with the way the Bandits spawn in the game and their A.I, but as of right now the details are being kept under wraps. For right now, the developers have stated that they want to keep the big reveal of everything as exactly that, a big reveal, and don't want to spoil anything before the release of Alpha 21.

Interestingly though, it was mentioned that some features that are being developed are underway, but might not be ready for Alpha 21, so they will be considered for the release of Alpha 22 instead. Giving us a lot of hope for the release of more content to come even after the release of the Alpha 21 build. 

For more on the latest releases, check out our section dedicated to the latest video game releases, guides, features, and more.

Featured image courtesy of The Fun Pimps

For more 7 Days To Die news, be sure to check out our dedicated section or take a look at some of our Guides & Tutorials just below:

MAJOR NEWS -

7 Days To Die Alpha 21 Release Date Speculation & News | How To Sign Up For 7 Days To Die Alpha 21 Streamer Weekend

GAME GUIDES - 

How to Source Water | How To Get Clay Fast | Can You Sleep in 7 Days to Die? How To Use The Bedroll | How To Get Mechanical Parts Fast | Is 7 Days to Die Cross Platform With Cross-Play Support?

Written by Shane Moosa

Shane started his career as a freelance writer for Gamezo while working full-time as a software developer. You can often find Shane trying his hand at no-hit runs of Souls Games such as Elden Ring and Dark Souls 3 (and being quite unsuccessful). To relax, Shane will often boot up sessions of Overwatch 2 or Hunt: Showdown, but his interests are spread across various games, from AAA titles (He loved the Dead Space Remake and RE4 Remake) to indies such as Hollow Knight, Celeste, and Hades. Shane is always willing to try new games though, so feel free to drop him an email with what you think he should check out next.

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