The developers of Zone Nine have officially kicked of their Closed Playtest session for Halloween, giving selected participants an early glimpse at team-based PvPvE action to enjoy while providing constructive feedback to help the developers create an engaging blockchain gaming experience in the zombie survival genre.

What Is Zone Nine?

Zone Nine is a zombie survival shooter developed in Unreal Engine 5 and powered by Ethereum-based Ancient8, a gaming-focused Layer 2 chain on the Optimism Superchain. It is said to represent the first AAA Web3 game IP ecosystem on Ancient8, which the web3 game joined last year to combine blockchain-based ownership with frenetic esports gameplay.

Built as both a standalone experience and a modular foundation for future titles, Zone Nine merges PvPvE mechanics, cooperative survival, and team-based competition inside vast, post-apocalyptic environments. Players will be able to gather supplies, battle other teams, and fight waves of zombies and mutated bosses while managing resources like hunger, thirst, and stamina.

The Ancient8 partnership allows Zone Nine to introduce true digital ownership, enabling players to securely hold and trade their in-game assets on the blockchain. Beyond gameplay, Zone Nine is also said to embody a “Build in Public” philosophy, where the developers actively involve the community in development decisions, balancing transparency with technical ambition as they refine the game through iterative playtests.

One of the first major steps in this process is this new Closed Playtest, a limited-access session where a small group of players have been invited to test the early systems, report bugs, and provide feedback.

What Features Are Included in Zone Nine’s Closed Playtest?

The Closed Playtest for Zone Nine: Nihilation, gives players the opportunity to try out the game’s foundational systems and core gameplay mechanics. While early and experimental, this test phase seems to already includes the full PvPvE combat loop, environmental hazards, and survival management systems that define a part of the game's core experience.

Matches in Zone Nine are structured as team-based 5v5 third-person survival shootouts. Two teams compete to reach 999 points while also defending against roaming zombies and large boss monsters.

Points are earned by eliminating enemy players, defeating zombies and mutant bosses, turning in boss trophies at checkpoints, as well as by completing map objectives.

Teams share a respawn pool of 20 lives, so each time a player dies and respawns, one life is consumed from this pool, and the team also loses points. When the respawn pool is depleted, fallen players cannot return. If all remaining players are eliminated afterward, the team loses the match.

Every player must manage health, stamina, hunger, and thirst levels. Health regenerates slowly but consumes food to do so, while stamina is drained through sprinting, jumping, or dodging and consumes water to recover. Poor management of hunger or thirst weakens combat performance and limits endurance. Adding a layer of strategic depth that forces teams to balance aggression with survival management.

The Closed Playtest introduces a dynamic weather system and a full day-night cycle. Weather changes approximately every 15 to 17 minutes, impacting player performance and environmental visibility. This means a complete cycle could include 10 minutes of daylight, a 2-minute transition, and 5 minutes of night, in real time. There are 4 weather types: Sunny, Rainstorm, Blizzard, and Fog. Sunny has no effect on gameplay, while Rainstorms slow movement, increase food use, and reduce thirst. A Blizzard also slows movement while raising both food and water use, while a Fog of course greatly hinders player vision.

Players can explore the map freely and encounter dangerous Infestation Zones marked by skull icons. These areas vary in intensity and contain high-level zombies and rare rewards. Teams will want to take advantage of checkpoints, which serve 2 main purposes: as respawn locations, where fallen teammates can return after capture, and also as trophy turn-in points, where boss items can be exchanged for points.

If a player dies, their inventory is dropped in a crate labelled with a Death Marker, which is visible until recovered by a teammate.

The Closed Playtest currently features 7 weapon types and 5 equipment categories, each available in multiple rarity tiers. Weapons include M4A1, AK-47, Benelli M4, Uzi, Desert Deagle, Glock-18, and Fire Axe. Equipment is categorized as Helmet, Armor, Boots, Backpack, and Gloves, each available in different rarity grades that affect stats and visuals.

Players can also use a variety of consumable items categorized as Water, Food, Medicine, and Boosters, each providing temporary effects or restoring vital stats.

The game's PvPvE structure centers around both player combat and AI threats, with this alpha playtest featuring 6 different zombie types, including 3 boss monsters: the enormous Meat Spider, the bulky Meat Tank, and a swift elite enemy named Flea. Non-bosses include basic zombies, dogs, and bears. Each boss drops unique trophies that can be turned in at checkpoints for bonus points.

All playtesters can host or join custom matches. Hosting requires strong CPU performance, as the host handles local server computation. Teams are divided into Survivors and Hunters, each with customizable character models, ensuring players can personalize both roles.

Who Can Participate in the Closed Playtest?

Applications for the Zone Nine Closed Playtest are now closed. The registration form was open from October 13 until October 21, after which developers reviewed each submission to select candidates and kickstart the playtest on October 31.

Approximately 20% of total applicants were chosen, resulting in around 250 players being accepted into this phase. The selection process aimed to include a diverse mix of players to provide broad technical and gameplay feedback. 

Players received access through the Epic Games Store via redeemable codes. Only whitelisted Epic accounts could activate these codes. Each participant was required to provide their Epic Account ID to complete whitelisting before launch.

The development team confirmed the game includes “tons of bugs” at this stage but stressed that player feedback is crucial for refinement. They have not announced a date for the next Zone Nine playtest, nor is there an official end date for the ongoing closed test session.