H1Z1 is now going free-to-play, which you may find odd considering just last week, H1Z1 finally had a full release. The history of this game is a very turbulent one, but the short version is that it once ruled the Steam charts in 2015 before failing to deliver on a lot of promises made by developer Daybreak Games. With PUBG being a massive hit and players jumping ship to it and Fortnite, there was only one logical outcome for the game that started the "battle royale" craze.
I suppose the long coveted 1.0 version wasn't enough to entice people back, so Daybreak Studios is opening the flood gates for everyone. If you happened to have purchased the game at any point during the last three years, you'll receive an "Appreciation Pack" that contains a bunch of goodies (including victory crates and premium currency). Whether that is enough to get once loyal fans to install the game again is yet to be seen.
via destructoid https://www.destructoid.com/h1z1-is-going-free-to-play-today-493319.phtml