Bend Studio Director Chris Reese recently told Screen Rant that the release date for Days Gone would be revealed "very soon," and he has kept his word. Sony officially announced that the upcoming zombie-themed third-person shooter will release February 22, 2019 exclusively on PlayStation 4. That's not all the studio revealed today, as a new trailer and information about some other in-game threats were released.

Developed by Bend Studio, Days Gone is an open-world shooter that features hordes of zombies for the player to battle against. It's the first console game for the developer in over a decade, as they previously specialized in handheld gaming having notably worked on Uncharted: The Lost Legacy for PlayStation Vita. As such, they'll be looking to make quite the splash and prove that they can deliver a triple-A experience when Days Gone releases early next year.

Related: Days Gone Developers Are Actually Looking Into Other Difficulty Modes

Zombies won't be the only thing that will be out to kill the player in Days Gone. The new trailer shows off two animal threats in the form of mountain lions and ravens, that are known as Criers. Additionally, an enemy faction called Rest In Peace is also introduced. These humans have grown to worship Freakers (what zombies are called in-game) and refuse to kill the undead creatures. Creative Director John Garvin says that "the results can be very entertaining" when the Rest In Peace group comes into contact with Freakers.

Sony likes to release a big exclusive early on in the year, so the February 22, 2019 release date makes a lot of sense. This year the studio put out God of War in the first quarter of the year, and they'll be looking to replicate some of its commercial success with Days Gone. It will also allow Insomniac Games' Spider-Man to get the space it needs during the holiday season, and E3 will soon fully detail the rest of 2018's releases.

The introduction of two new animal threats are also intriguing. The danger that mountain lions bring is pretty self-explanatory as the creatures are a natural predator, but the Criers will be more unique. Players will have to avoid the infected ravens so they don't alert the Freakers that roam the post-apocalyptic open-world. Days Gone is shaping up to be quite the interesting PlayStation 4 exclusive for Sony, and players will get to finally go hands-on with the game when it releases early next year.

More: Days Gone Director Has No Idea How Long It Takes To Beat The Entire Game

Source: PlayStation