Kyle Crane is back in Dying Light: The Beast, and if that somehow wasn’t enough to excite fans of the franchise, the game looks a lot like Dying Light: The Following. That standalone DLC is dear to many fans, so the vibes being similar is a huge addition. These two facets alone are reason enough to be excited about Dying Light: The Beast, but there’s plenty more beneath the surface.
Game Rant recently spoke with franchise director Tymon Smektala about Dying Light: The Beast, including what fans can expect as Techland rolls out the title in 2025. Smektala understandably didn’t say much, but between that and standard industry/Techland practices, there’s a lot of Dying Light: The Beast coming in the new year.
Please note: Anything not specifically attributed to Smektala should be taken as my own speculation as a fan of the franchise.
Techland Will Celebrate Dying Light’s Anniversary
Smektala described 2025 as an important year for Techland, not least of which is because it will be celebrating 10 years of Dying Light as a franchise. Dying Light 1 released on January 27, 2015, so fans can reasonably expect these celebrations around then. As Smektala said,
“I think the celebration will be the right moment to reveal more of our plans. But yes, we plan to start with the celebration and then we will move into a proper rollout for The Beast. The date has been announced for summer 2025, so we still have a few months to really get everything ready and prepare for that.”
As to how Techland celebrates this anniversary with Dying Light remains to be seen, as Smektala said the company wouldn’t overdo it. 10 years is an anniversary worth celebrating, but he would prefer to look forward to the future. Fans can probably expect some form of celebration in Dying Light 2 and news on Dying Light: The Beast, but Smektala doesn’t want to overhype it. It would just be the first stop on the road to Dying Light: The Beast‘s release in 2025.
Dying Light: The Beast Releases Summer 2025
Between the anniversary celebration and the release of Dying Light: The Beast, fans can expect the typical marketing rollout of a game complete with more trailers, news, interviews, and the like. Of course, the real meat of everything is going to be when Dying Light: The Beast actually releases in summer 2025. As far as what fans should expect from the game itself, Smektala described Dying Light: The Beast as “the climax” of everything the studio has done over 10 years, complete with all of its gameplay tweaks, player findings, studio experiences, and collective knowledge.
The story revolves around Kyle Crane’s desire for revenge against The Baron, who has experimented on him for 13 years, but Kyle Crane is still Kyle Crane underneath the pain, anger, and trauma. When Castor Woods asks for his help, it would be against his nature not to lend a hand. Where it goes from there remains to be seen, but it’s going to be a fun ride. And as a Dying Light game, even a more rural one, fans can expect Volatiles, a day-night cycle, parkour, firearms, and all the staples of the franchise. Dying Light: The Beast may make some improvements or adjustments for its setting, but overall, it is the pinnacle of Techland game design to this point, not a revolution of it.
It’s worth pointing out that Dying Light: The Beast will launch with firearms, including some new additions never before seen in the franchise. A flamethrower and a grenade launcher have been shown so far, and it’ll be interesting to see what other firearms make the cut. Overall, while the jury will be out for a while, Dying Light: The Beast has all the makings of not just an excellent franchise game but an excellent zombie game period.
Dying Light: The Beast May Receive Strong Support
What comes after release is hardest to predict, and obviously, Smektala and Techland are focused on the rollout of the title starting the new year. However, I think a reasonable expectation is strong support. This is an area where Techland has always thrived. In Dying Light 2, combat, the day/night cycle, and parkour were all reworked to address fan complaints. When fans wanted firearms, Techland worked on, developed, and released Dying Light 2: Reloaded to bring firearms into the game. Dying Light: The Beast was originally a DLC as well, but the best way to tell this story and deliver it to fans was a standalone game, not a DLC with a more limited purview. All of this plays into Techland’s promised 5 years of support for Dying Light 2.
I simply do not see Techland stepping back from its consumer-friendly, supportive development cycle. Dying Light: The Beast, since it is a smaller-scale game, may not receive 5 years of support itself, but I don’t imagine Techland will just release it in the summer and forget it. Instead, fans should keep making their voices heard after its release. Techland is certainly listening.
Dying Light 3 May Be on the Cards?
Marketing 101 says that Techland should be laser-focused on supporting its IP in the new year, especially its new release with Dying Light: The Beast. It and Dying Light 2 will likely continue to get support throughout the new year, but after the summer, I think Dying Light 3 speculation might become more rampant. During our interview with Smektala, he said,
“At the end of [Dying Light: The Beast], there’s also a small glimpse into the future of the franchise. We have high hopes for Dying Light‘s future. This is our IP, our baby. We want it to grow and we absolutely don’t want to stop with The Beast, so more is coming in the future for sure.”
Obviously, this is just general franchise commentary about its future and direction, in no way confirming that Dying Light 3 is in the works right now. But that sure does sound a lot like Dying Light 3. Fans shouldn’t expect much more than the aforementioned “glimpse” in 2025, but it’s good to know that Dying Light is in it for the long haul. Techland is working on a new fantasy IP as well, so it’ll be interesting to see what the next 10 years for Techland looks like. Obviously, only time will tell, but my guess is that Techland and Smektala would still spend the 15th and 20th anniversaries looking foward rather than looking back, though.
- Franchise
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Dying Light
- ESRB
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M For Mature 17+ // Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Language, Use of Drugs