[UPDATE] Daybreak has unbanned five people as a result of their apology videos, according to John Smedley.

The original story is below.

The thousands of H1Z1 players recently banned by developer Daybreak have been given a shot to redeem themselves. Daybreak president John Smedley outlined a plan on Twitter whereby any cheater who uploads a video of themselves making a public apology may have their account unbanned.

"Many of you are emailing me, apologizing and admitting it. Thank you. However, you're doing it wrong," Smedley explained. "If you want us to even consider your apology, a public YouTube apology is necessary."

Smedley clarified that H1Z1 cheaters should direct their apology videos to other players. "Please address your apology to fellow players, not us," he wrote. "Although you hurt our business, this is about them not us."

Smedley has re-tweeted a few videos so far. He notes in a follow-up Reddit post that Daybreak has so far unbanned three people out of 30,000. He also offered more insight into why Daybreak is taking this unique approach to cheating in H1Z1.

"I want to make sure it's clear there are consequences for cheating," he said. "If these videos go far and wide and it elevates the importance of getting rid of the cheaters in PC gaming, I feel it's an excellent trade."

"Here's why. These guys could easily go right back in, make a new steam account.. use an HWID hack and play anyways," he added. "Yes, that's the reality. It's ugly, but there it is. And it's true for every single PC game out there. Even the ones that say it isn't. So is this the right move? I don't know. But doing the same thing we have been doing is a tough fight and I'd like to at least try something different."

Video submissions end today, May 20, at 12 noon PDT / 3 PM EDT.

H1Z1 is available now on Steam Early Access ($20), where it's already sold over 1 million copies since its release earlier this year. The game is also coming to PlayStation 4, though a release date for that version has not been announced.