...
Browse GamesSteam news
Full Steam announcements and update articles for this title.
We are always looking for ways to make the Dying Light franchise the ultimate zombie survival experience - and to do that, we need your help!
What is at the absolute top of your wishlist? What features make your jaw drop, what mechanics need a tune-up, and what are your biggest expectations for the future of the franchise?
Our Official Community Survey is now LIVE, and we want to hear your ultimate ideas and honest critiques! Click the link below to share your thoughts directly with our development team:
https://steam-commfeedback.webankieta.pl/
Thank you for your continued support, your passion, and for helping us shape the future of Dying Light. Stay human out there!
Survivors! We have just released a small update for Dying Light, which addresses an issue that occurred when loading saves from The Following launching the game in the Slums. Make sure you download the latest version of the game - 1.55.
Dying Light turns 11, and we want to celebrate it with you by bringing back two classic time-limited events. They will be available from February 12 to February 26.
The first week marks the return of Super Crane. During the event, your grappling hook has no cooldown, its range is increased, and pulling enemies becomes much easier. This opens up new ways to move through Harran, control crowds, and turn verticality into your greatest weapon. To complete the challenge, kill 100 zombies using fall damage and earn a gold-tier weapon as your reward.
In the second week, Low Gravity takes over Harran. Jumps feel lighter, landings are softer, and enemies can be sent flying through the air. Your goal is simple: slay 100 zombies and claim another gold-tier weapon.
Pick your moment, master the chaos, and prove you’ve still got what it takes to survive Harran.
A decade after its initial launch, Harran is still alive with zombie slayers - both veterans and newcomers - and it shows no signs of slowing down. This summer, we added the Dying Light: Retouched Update, enhancing the game’s visuals and audio to deliver an even richer experience for returning players.
None of us at Techland could have imagined back in 2015 that the original game would still have such a passionate community. If you’ve enjoyed your time in Harran, battling zombies and uncovering its secrets, please consider nominating Dying Light for Labor of Love this year!
Ready for a haunted hunt? Halloween is back in Dying Light!
When the spookiest night of the year comes, the deadliest horrors dress up and flood the city’s streets, looking for candy blood. For this trick-or-treating, you’ll need a really large candy bag. And maybe some reliable weapons too. Volatile (sugar) rush has made them much more sensitive to sounds during Halloween, so any noise you make will alarm and lure them to you. Use your Super Crane’s powers to wipe those carved smiles off their pumpkin faces, and don’t forget to collect their trick-or-treat potions. Warning: Use with caution! Their effects can be… surprising.
The community will want to collect as many of these as possible, so help them, and you’ll definitely be rewarded. And don’t forget to get rid of the Goons, Virals, and Volatiles! They disguised themselves, but don’t be fooled. They’re no trick-or-treaters. Finish the bounties, though, and you’ll see there’s something nice waiting for you in return.
Goals
Local goals:
Klll 10 Goons
Reward—Reward: Random Golden Weapon
Kill 15 Volatiles
Reward—Van Crane Sword (Item)
Kill 30 Biters
Reward—Random Golden Weapon
Global goal—Collect 1 million treat-or-treat potions
Reward—3 King Mods
The Halloween event will launch on PC and consoles on October 23 (12:00 CEST) and will last until November 6 (12:00 CET).
The reviews are in! See what the critics and players are saying about Dying Light: The Beast. From "heart-pounding action" to "gritty survival horror", here are their reasons you should join them in the excitement.
Start your quest for revenge as Kyle Crane and face the horrors of Castor Woods today. Dying Light: The Beast pushes what you know and love about the series to the extreme. The combat - more physical and brutal. The parkour - more grounded and realistic. The night - more tense and claustrophobic. Everything has been dialed up to eleven to create the best Dying Light experience to date!
Dying Light: The Beast is finally here! It’s time for you to UNLEASH THE BEAST!
Dying Light: The Beast pushes what you know and love about the series to the extreme. The combat - more physical and brutal. The parkour - more grounded and realistic. The night - more tense and claustrophobic. Everything has been dialed up to eleven to create the best Dying Light experience to date!
You are Kyle Crane and your quest for revenge begins now. Revel in the physical combat as you crush the skulls and spill the guts of those who stand in your way. Ramp up the brutality by unleashing the Beast running through your veins and rip enemies apart with your bare hands. Create a glorious spectacle of violence. Be Physical. Be Creative. Be Brutal.
Lose yourself in the stunning Castor Woods, brought to life with the next-gen visuals and immersive technical advancements. As you explore the valley, feel the rush of the grounded first-person perspective parkour or put the pedal to the metal in the 4x4 vehicles you find. Become engrossed in the most beautiful zombie apocalypse.
But beneath the surface lies something darker. Secrets. Blood. Horror waiting to be uncovered. So, enjoy the relative safety of the day because when the sun sets, safety dies… Then it’s time to face the night, where Volatiles roam and fear takes over.
Now get out there, Castor Woods is waiting for you to…
UNLEASH THE BEAST
Buy Now
The Beast launched last week, hit 90% positive reviews. Thank you for making this possible! Now it’s your turn—dare to enter Castor Woods and face the horrors within.
Can you believe it? Tomorrow, you'll finally get to UNLEASH THE BEAST for yourself!
But even though there's just one day left, that doesn't mean we can't get you even more hyped! Check out what our community had to say about their time with Dying Light: The Beast!
Dying Light: The Beast is almost here and we can’t wait for you to finally get your hands on it. If you’re still wondering whether to dive in, here are 10 Highlights that make Dying Light: The Beast unforgettable reasons why this game deserves your attention.
1.KYLE CRANE IS BACK!
Let’s start with the big one… Kyle Crane is back! Whether you’ve followed his story since Harran or are meeting him for the first time, Dying Light: The Beast reintroduces this iconic survivor in a way that feels both familiar and brand new. After more than a decade in captivity and cruel experiments, Crane emerges scarred, altered, and carrying the weight of everything he’s lost. The world he steps into is as new and hostile to him as it will be to you
Gameplay reflects this evolution. Animations inspired by Dying Light 1 have been re-engineered to feel raw and unforgiving, contrasting the survival desperation of human Crane with the terrifying strength of his Beast form. Roger Craig Smith returns to deliver one of his most emotional performances yet, capturing not just rage and power, but also the exhaustion and trauma of a man who has been broken and rebuilt. And Crane’s design embodies his duality – half man, half monster. His corrupted eye, deep scars, and beastly traits are balanced with subtle details like Jade’s necklace, his old watch, and reminders of the survivor he once was.
And if you need to catch up on Crane’s journey so far - don’t worry. We’ve prepared a short recap that will get you ready to step into his shoes once again.
2. CASTOR WOODS – A BREATHTAKING NEW SETTING
The game, and its story, takes place in the valley of Castor Woods, a brand-new, handcrafted location built specifically for Dying Light: The Beast. Unlike the cityscapes of previous games, this environment is more natural and varied, designed to feel both expansive and intimate at the same time. Players will move between a tourist town, historic villas, thick forests, flooded farmland, swamps, and the remnants of an industrial park, each area offering its own identity and challenges
We wanted Castor Woods to feel like a place with real history. Tourism, local traditions, and industry once shaped the region, and traces of them are still present in the world today. Mountain lodges, ranger stations, worker housing, and family homes all tell fragments of stories that players can piece together as they explore. Even though the valley has fallen into decay, it was important for us to make it visually striking - a beautiful zombie apocalypse setting where every path or ruin hides something to uncover. From small collectibles and notes to larger secrets and easter eggs, Castor Woods rewards curiosity at every step
3. BRUTAL, PHYSICAL, AND UNFORGIVING COMBAT
Combat in Dying Light: The Beast has been rebuilt from the ground up to emphasize its physicality, brutality, and creativity. Every swing of a weapon, every punch, and every bullet is designed to feel impactful. Active ragdoll reactions, destructible body parts, and detailed wound systems make sure that what happens on screen looks and feels authentic. You’ll see enemies stagger, collapse, and break in ways that reflect the raw force behind each strike.
Enemies bring a level of challenge and intensity fitting a survival game. Humans use cover, flanking, and up to 22 tactical strategies to make fights unpredictable. Zombies, on the other hand, rely on sheer aggression, determined to grab you, reacting immediately to noise, relentlessly countering each attack.
To achieve the right level of realism, our team even used practical effects - like fake blood and staged splatter tests – as references for how wounds spread, how fluids react, and how surfaces stain. Unique finishers add cinematic, gory satisfaction, making combat as horrifying as it is thrilling. The result is gore that isn’t just shock value but grounded in tangible detail
4. HORRORS OF THE NIGHT
Night in Castor Woods is designed to bring back the scary feel of the first game, a true test of survival. Darkness is heavier, and the infected that roam it have evolved into smarter, faster, more menacing predators. Volatiles move in coordinated packs, adapting to your actions, and their new locomotion system makes them unstoppable whether you’re sprinting through the narrow streets of the tourist town or across the dense, shadowy forests of the Nature Reserve. In the final weeks before production, a major focus was placed on refining Volatile behavior and locomotion to make night encounters more intense and believable. Their locomotion system was overhauled with tighter pathfinding and an improved set of run and jump animations, allowing them to close distances with far greater efficiency. We also worked on their sensory awareness, making them quicker to detect player actions, such as the flicker of a flashlight. These changes combine to create chases that are more varied, unpredictable, and terrifying than ever.
5. PARKOUR AND TRAVERSAL: GROUNDED AND REALISTIC
Parkour in Dying Light: The Beast has never felt more grounded or physical. Realistic physics make every jump, climb, and leap feel natural, giving players a sense of weight and momentum, while still allowing full freedom to explore. Castor Woods was designed as a parkour playground, and hundreds of new animations - including 17 just for climbing ledges - ensure that traversal feels dynamic and fresh. As Kyle adapts to his environment and embraces his evolving body, his agility grows, turning parkour not only into a survival tool and a means of escape, but also an expression of freedom. Exploration isn’t limited to parkour alone. 4x4 off-road trucks expand the ways you can cross the valley, offering speed and power. But there are risks: noise attracts infected, fuel runs out, and damage taken builds until these cars explode. And when night falls, Volatiles make driving even more dangerous, tearing into vehicles with the same ferocity they unleash on players, turning every journey into a high-stakes gamble
6. ZOMBIES REAL LIKE NEVER BEFORE
Zombies in Dying Light: The Beast have been pushed further than ever, both in how they look and how they behave. Biters, Virals, and special infected retain faint traces of their humanity, making fights unsettling and unpredictable. With 110 visual variants and over a dozen detailed damage zones for each enemy type, every encounter feels unique and visceral. And Chimeras, the Baron’s twisted creations, blend human anatomy with monstrous design, creating truly terrifying opponents. Zombies are aggressive, reactive, and smart. Virals are faster and smarter, using dodging and group coordination to overwhelm players. Volatiles pursue with relentless aggression, making escape a challenge in itself. Sound design reinforces this with over 2,500 unique vocalizations, giving each creature a raw, almost human intensity. Even subtle details, like a Biter reacting to losing a hand or gazing at the sunset, add layers of immersion. From subtle gestures to hulking monstrosities, every infected in Castor Woods tells a story of who they once were, making each encounter tense, memorable, and unforgettable.
7. TOP-NOTCH IMMERSION
Dying Light games strive for total player immersion, and for Dying Light: The Beast we took a number of steps to deliver that.
We’ve created a dynamic sky where clouds drift naturally and the sun moves across the horizon, making sunsets feel vivid and alive. Our new fog and sky system is artist-driven: it’s grounded in physical equations, but the final look is fully shaped by our artists to ensure every scene has maximum visual impact.
Storms mix wind, rain, and lightning for dramatic, dynamic moments, and the effect of a rain-soaked atmosphere is quite spectacular - rain flows naturally over surfaces, forms mist, and creates walls of falling water. Swinging a weapon or an explosion from a grenade creates a wind gust that moves leaves, plants, and other objects. Even particle effects are context-sensitive; for example, leaves fall in forests, dragonflies fly around players near rivers, and airborne effects change depending on the surroundings.
Even our in-game map has been carefully crafted with immersion in mind. It’s 3D, fully animated, and layered with UI elements. Notice the little details – e.g., how it reacts to the weather: it shifts when the wind blows, raindrops fall on its surface, and at night, it can be illuminated by a flashlight. It’s a small detail, but it helps the map feel more connected to the game world and adds to the feeling of you being there.
8. CUTTING-EDGE TECH
With Dying Light: The Beast, we wanted the game to feel as good as it looks, which meant pushing both visuals and performance. Enhanced lighting and full HDR bring depth and realism to every environment, while advanced upscaling and frame generation technologies - Intel XeSS 2, NVIDIA DLSS 4, and FSR 4 - ensure smooth performance across a wide range of hardware. Latency reduction is also supported by all major providers, including AMD Anti-Lag 2, NVIDIA Reflex, and Intel XeLL, so responsiveness stays tight, even in the most chaotic encounters
9. MUSIC AND ATMOSPHERE THAT GRIP YOU
Sound design in Dying Light: The Beast plays a key role in building tension, especially at night. Players can track Volatiles and other infected through subtle audio cues – snapping branches in the forest, rattling windows in the town, or the heavy breath of something lurking close. We have recorded more than 9,000 unique soundbites for the zombies, more than in any of our previous games. On top of that, each biome carries its own acoustic identity, and the contrast between indoor and outdoor spaces amplifies suspense, turning even small noises into warnings of danger.
Music tells Kyle’s story: cold and quiet at first, reflecting his isolation, then gradually growing heroic and intense as he fights to protect Castor Woods. These dynamic transitions reflect Kyle’s state of mind, giving emotional weight to exploration, combat, and quiet moments alike.
10. SHARE THE CO-OP MOMENTS
Co-op in Dying Light: The Beast returns to the roots of the series, offering the full campaign to be played side by side. Each player keeps their own progress, while still being free to jump into a friend’s game, replay missions, and earn rewards for helping out. Dying Light: The Beast restores the freedom and spontaneity that made co-op a fan favorite - making survival more fun, unpredictable, and memorable when shared with friends.
See you in Castor Woods on September 18th!
We already revealed that everyone who's already with us and anyone who joins before the launch of Dying Light: The Beast will receive exclusive gifts: the Hero of Harran Bundle and the APEX Car Skin... but that's not all! You'll also get the Legacy Outfit - inspired by Kyle Crane's iconic look from the original Dying Light!
Dying Light: The Beast is almost here, which makes it the perfect time to recap Kyle Crane’s backstory. See into the mind of the half man, half monster as he recounts the events from the original Dying Light and Dying Light: The Following, as well as the horrors the Baron inflicted on him.
Whether you’re a longtime fan or a newcomer preparing to face your first night, you’ll be up to speed on everything that happened before you hunt down that bastard.
Since more than 1 million players have already secured their copy of Dying Light: The Beast ahead of launch, we're moving the release forward to SEPTEMBER 18! Check out the global launch times for the game to play it as soon as it drops.
The zombie sounds in Dying Light: The Beast sound so realistic, you might think we've got a secret Infected hidden in one of the rooms of our studio. In fact, it's specialist voice actors who bring the undead to life. How do they do it? Watch this behind the scenes to find out!
One thing you can’t imagine Dying Light without is zombies. With Dying Light: The Beast, we wanted to push them further than ever - not only visually, but also in how they behave, react, and sound. They’re the backbone of the experience, and we dedicated enormous effort to making them unsettling, believable, and unforgettable
This time our philosophy was simple: zombies should always remind you of who they were before turning. That faint trace of humanity creates hesitation in players - making every encounter more disturbing. As Charidimos Bitsakakis (Character Concept Artist) explained, to avoid lifeless, doll-like figures with glassy eyes, we pushed them deeper into the uncanny valley - human-like realism that’s hard to look at, yet impossible to ignore.
Biters, the most common infected, underwent a complete redesign. Instead of resembling dried, mummified corpses, they now appear rotten and organic, their decomposing skin wet and bloated. Katarzyna Bech (Lead Character Concept Artist) describes this new aesthetic as a “degenerated human” - repulsive, yet believable.
To bring variety, we created over 110 variants of Biters. You’ll encounter different body types - skinny, regular, and obese - as well as special types that introduce unique gameplay challenges, like the classic gas tank Biter, a hazard-suited nightmare. Virals are different. Since in the lore they’ve only recently turned, they retain more traces of humanity - natural skin tones, recognizable features, and the look of someone who hasn’t been gone for long… But that lingering humanity makes them even more disturbing, as we exaggerated blood patterns, their twisted expressions and raw fury blazing in their eyes.
There are nearly 60 variants of Virals in the game. Early on, you’ll face Lab Virals - victims of Baron’s gruesome experiments. Their torn, decomposed skin and open wounds hint at surgical tampering. They look like a halfway step between standard Virals and Baron’s monstrous creations, foreshadowing the horrors yet to come.
Following the same artistic direction for our special infected types, we reimagined them, by grounding each one in who they once were, creating a new character model for each one of them. Their backstories became crucial to their visual design, and their lingering memories influence their behavior. The Howler, for example, is a psychiatric patient still bound by restraints. The Goon is a hulking brute shaped from the body of a blue-collar worker. The Spitter, once a medical professional, now spews corrosive acid from the very chemicals he once used to heal. These archetypes root the infected in reality, making them both familiar and terrifying - and the subtle hints at their past lives reinforce the fear of becoming one of them.
At the same time, we wanted clashes with them to feel just as visceral than encounters with regular zombies. That’s why, when redesigning their visuals, we focused on enabling visible, progressive body damage. Fighting a Goon is a true spectacle of gore: wounds tear open, blood splatters, and destruction spreads across its body, reinforcing that your attacks are having an impact. To achieve this effect, we doubled the number of visible wounds that can appear on any single enemy and expanded the number of damage zones - up to twelve on Biters and Virals, with even more on larger enemies.
And speaking of larger enemies - the true stars of Dying Light: The Beast are the Chimeras, hulking monstrosities born from the Baron’s twisted experiments. By taking different types of special infected and pushing them beyond their limits, he created something entirely new - more powerful, unpredictable, and far more dangerous. As Katarzyna Bech explained, the challenge was to blend gameplay function with visual realism, ensuring they wouldn’t feel like “just monsters.”
When designing the Chimeras, we took inspiration from human anatomy. Our artists studied medical illustrations and models to understand muscles, tissues, and overall body structure. It was one of the team’s biggest artistic challenges - and also a valuable opportunity to learn and grow.
The Matriarch, one of Baron’s chimeras, perfectly embodies this vision. Inspired by everything from anatomical diagrams to raw meat, she was designed to look like a human stripped of skin, with muscles and tissues exposed. Concept Artist Marta Sokołowska explained her intent: “I wanted to create something haunting and unsettling, like a witch from nightmares.”
The artistic vision only works if it carries into gameplay, so a lot of our work was focused on two key aspects: making zombies aggressive and reactive to whatever the player does. Biters are a prime example - when struck, they counter quickly with almost no cooldown, leaving little room to breathe and forcing you to think before engaging. Virals show their aggression and reactivity through more human-like behavior: they’re smarter and faster than Biters, position themselves strategically, and rapidly dodge and shift around you. Volatiles, our apex predators, are even more dangerous - not just in combat, but in the way they pursue you. We refined their locomotion so they could overcome obstacles seamlessly - alone or in coordinated packs - across every area of our diverse map.
Our work on locomotion led to a complete overhaul of animation and physics in the C-Engine. Some of these changes may seem like small details, but we knew they mattered - because it’s often the nuances that players feel most directly, controller in hand. Enemies now use active ragdolls, meaning their bodies continue to react to momentum even after being struck. For example, you might launch a zombie into the air with a two-handed weapon, only for your co-op partner to kick the flying body - something the active ragdoll will react to realistically.
And then there are the subtle touches players may not expect. When you cut off a Biter’s hand, they don’t simply collapse or keep swinging - they look at it, a fleeting moment of awareness that hints at the human still trapped inside. We also revived a small atmospheric detail: at sunset, some Biters will gaze toward the sun, a quiet reminder that a terrifying night is about to begin.
Audio design was the final step in completing the representation of zombies in our game. In line with our overall direction for Dying Light: The Beast, both Biters and Virals sound more human - aggressively human, to be precise - so players feel they’re truly facing infected people, not just fabricated monsters. Their growls, shrieks, and movements carry a raw, almost desperate intensity, amplifying the horror of their transformation. This makes encounters more tense and immersive, as you can almost hear the struggle between the human and infected side within them. Achieving this level of quality required enormous effort - the game features over 9,103 unique zombie soundbites, covering screams, shrieks, and other unsettling vocalizations. To capture these terrifying voices, our audio designers collaborated with the Canadian team at The Monster Factory, specialists in creature sound design whose work includes The Last of Us Part II, Baldur’s Gate III, and God of War: Ragnarök. For a closer look at the process, check out this documentary, where voice actors demonstrate how they brought our zombies to life - adding subtle layers of humanity and horror that make every encounter unforgettable.
From the smallest detail to the greatest threat, every aspect of the infected has been carefully crafted to make Dying Light: The Beast a truly immersive and terrifying experience. Every encounter tells the story of what these creatures once were, and every scream, strike, and glance reminds you that danger is everywhere. All of these terrifying zombies will be waiting for you in Castor Woods on September 19!
“They tried to break him. They created The Beast.”
Free and out in the wild, you continue your quest for revenge. But the Baron still has his hooks in you; his experiments wreaking havoc, the zombie DNA clashes with yours and it seems to be winning. You’re losing control…
When the Beast takes over, your strength is pushed beyond human limits: you run faster, leap further and you become even more brutal. Rip zombies apart with your bare hands, shake the ground by pounding it with your fists, and punch through zombie torsos. You’ll see it in all its glory, thanks to the immersive first-person perspective. As the Beast, your savagery knows no bounds. But you still need to take control of it.
For that, you need something from the Chimeras. Just like you, they’ve mutated after being experimented on by the Baron. Taking these grotesque, hulking monsters down won’t be easy, but the reward will be worth it. Killing them and injecting their blood won’t just give you more control over the Beast: you’ll become more powerful and be able to unleash even more carnage. But these devastating beastly powers won’t be enough once the night comes.
That’s because once the sun sets, the true horrors come out. The beauty of Castor Woods is quickly enveloped in darkness, creating a claustrophobic atmosphere. You suddenly go from being the hunter to the hunted. Unpredictable and frightening, before you know it, your shallow, panicked breathing begins to match Kyle’s. The unknown that the night brings adds to the nerve-wrecking tension and the horror. You’ll begin to question if something’s lurking in the shadows, or if it's just your mind playing tricks on you. And if that wasn’t enough, the Volatiles are back and searching for their next terrified prey.
Whether alone or in packs, the series’ apex predators will hunt you down. You may not see them, but they’re there… stalking you from the cover of darkness. Fast, agile and strong as hell, they’re tough to kill. Their improved senses will notice you more easily now; something as simple as the flicker of a flashlight can set them upon you. And once you’re in their sights, the chase is on. Even if you decide to fight back, they’re not ones to retreat. They’ll fight you til the last drop of blood!
Even for the Beast, there’s plenty more monsters out there in Castor Woods. Volatiles, the Kings of the Night. Chimeras, the Baron’s twisted experiments. The bastard himself. And, of course, a ton of zombies…
Unleash the Beast - September 19
For more than a century, zombies have haunted our imagination, from flesh-eating hordes to infected terrors and everything in between. Watch our latest video to trace their evolution in pop culture, starting with the classic mindless minions of old and leading to today’s unstoppable apex predators. Step by step, bite by bite, witness every stage of the undead’s rise.
And don’t forget to see for yourself what the next wave of zombies will look like with Dying Light: The Beast!
Since the beginning of Dying Light, our goal has been to create the most immersive zombie apocalypse. Through our work on the series, we’ve learned that achieving this requires mastering three key areas: visuals, sound design, and gameplay mechanics. Let’s explore immersion and horror in Dying Light: The Beast!
Nights, Now Even Scarier Visual details and the advanced graphical engine make exploration a real treat during the day, but for a game like Dying Light what counts most is how atmospheric the night is. After all, this is where our “open world meets survival horror” formula shines best: using in-game systems to create challenges and frights for players.
Our goal for Dying Light: The Beast was to create a tense, terrifying night experience with a heavy, nerve-wrecking tension that could rival the legendary after-hours moments of the first Dying Light.
We assembled a dedicated strike team of programmers, game designers, and level designers, iterating weekly, and continuing their work throughout the game’s entire production. Some weeks were focused on Volatile behavior, others on spawning rules and chase mechanics. The result is a night system that will, hopefully, feel unpredictable and frightening, resulting in an experience you will remember for a long time.
We have pulled a lot of levers to achieve the horror and scary feeling we wanted for the night. We made them darker in general, but what we also discovered is that the Castor Woods setting helped us a lot conveying the atmosphere we were looking for and adding different shades to it. After all, it is a different experience when you wander around the forest of the Nature Reserve (super dark!) compared to trying to sneak past Volatiles inside the city (where burning barrels create a different vibe).
Another important decision was to refocus the night experience strictly on Volatiles, our apex predators - and this has driven all of the choices we have taken along the way. We redesigned how Volatiles move, both alone and in coordinated packs, so they could hunt players more effectively across all areas of the map. We iterated on our spawning technology to make you feel their presence, no matter where they are. On top of that, we also had to tweak the experience with our vehicle in mind, as well as account for the diversity of the map, which features many different areas, from narrow streets to open fields.
So, the nights were made darker, the flashlight gained a more physical feel with visible inertia, and the Volatiles became smarter. But we heard from you that it still might not be enough. That’s why, in the final weeks of production, we formed a strike team of AI and gameplay programmers, supported by our Tech & Art teams, to make nights even more terrifying. We’ve been incorporating feedback gathered during gamescom and from the reactions to influencers playing our build. You want more of that nail-biting night terror? We have more!
Here’s just a short list of some of elements we have worked on in these last few weeks leading to the release:
Significant improvements in locomotion of Volatiles increasing effectiveness of chases
Tighter path finding algorithms reducing unnecessary path selections
Improved run loop animation
Additional jump grabs and jump attacks
Reduced synchronicity of animations (e.g. UV reaction), adding more variety to Volatile encounters
Volatile senses - making it easier for them to notice the player and react to his behaviors (e.g. flashlight flashing)
Conditions for retreat behaviors, making them fight till the last drop of blood in a bigger number of cases
More realistic logic of spawners
Conditions of Volatiles jumping on a car from the front and from the back
Physics of Volatile jumps
On top of that, we've also worked on the visuals of Volatiles making them more bloody and increasing the number of their variants, making each one of them scarier and more unique.
Immersive Sounds Another element that adds to the scariness of the night is the sound design. Because we want you to feel like you’re “truly there”, our main focus was the ambiance of the night - we made it subtle so you can hear the footsteps of the Volatiles and the Infected well and locate them precisely among your surroundings, being able to understand their distance just from hearing alone. But once you’re spotted, everything changes - first, you hear the characteristic scary sound, and then music kicks in, full of tension and highlighted by Kyle’s breathing heavily. But when you finally manage to escape the chase and find a Safe Zone that will offer you shelter until the sun rises, you can also discover another side of Castor Woods. What’s scary during the night can actually look and sound beautiful during the day. Each biome - from the town, through the swamp, to the dense forest - has its own unique, highly detailed soundscape. In the city, you hear cracking windows and antennas; in the forest, snapping branches; in the swamps, the splash of water and other subtle natural sounds. Reverb and the contrast in sounds between indoor and outdoor environments plays a huge role in Dying Light: The Beast. Inside, sound is almost muted, creating silence and tension - perfect for jump scares! Outside, the soundscape is dense and almost claustrophobic, amplifying the sense of danger.
When it comes to sounds of gameplay, weapons in Dying Light: The Beast feel heavier and more brutal than in previous games in the series. Every shot or strike has weight and impact, and you can also hear it in your headphones or speakers - from cracking bones to splattering blood. The variety in combat sounds enhances the sense of satisfaction and the raw brutality of action, making it very realistic.
The sound of the zombies has also been reworked. Biters and Virals now sound more human - aggressively human - so players sense that they are facing infected people, not monsters. Their growls, shrieks, and movements carry a raw, almost desperate intensity, emphasizing the horror of their transformation. This makes encounters feel more tense and immersive, as you can almost hear the struggle between the human and Infected within them. Yet, achieving that level of quality is a tremendous amount of work - can you imagine that our game uses more than 9000 soundbites for zombie screams and shrieks?
The Handcrafted World of Castor Woods Finally, visuals bring the world of Dying Light: The Beast to life. We wanted to create a game that feels rich, dense, and varied, inviting players to explore every corner. How did we achieve that? By focusing on the details and background stories for all locations. Castor Woods is packed with hidden secrets and surprises. You can wander past souvenir shops with magnets still hanging on the displays, visit abandoned restaurants where menus are still readable and walls are decorated with pictures of dumplings taken from one of Concept Artist’s private archives. Even the city’s coat of arms and some of the logos of local businesses are designed to be consistent with each other, and they all feature beavers. Why beavers? Castor Woods Valley has always been home to a large beaver population, so the beaver became both the symbol of the region and the mascot of its nature reserve, so you’ll meet them throughout the area. Artists even imagined a summer festival planned for Castor Woods in 2022 - but it never took place because of the zombie pandemic. Still, you can find its traces: promotional posters, abandoned decorations, and even lineups of artists who were supposed to perform. We know that there are players that appreciate that level of detail in world building.
In areas like the farmlands or the villa district, every house has its own unique garden with subtle clues about the people who once lived there. Our artists did extensive research on plants and flowers to ensure the overgrown gardens look natural and believable. They carefully selected species that could survive without human care while still remaining lush and beautiful. And when you explore the Castor Woods Nature Reserve, don’t forget to read the information boards designed by our team to give you the feeling of walking through a real reserve.
One of the most picturesque parts of the reserve is the monastery, set on the hill in the heart of this beautiful location. Once inhabited by monks, it’s a place you can check their rooms, browse through the small shop where they sold handmade goods, or wander in the gardens they once tended to with care. It’s a truly stunning place with a rich history.
But that’s definitely not all! We can’t wait for you to explore the map yourselves, discovering all of the little details. And if that’s not enough, well, we’ve hidden over 100 collectibles and countless easter eggs across the world. Ready for the challenge? See you in Castor Woods on September 19!
Since the beginning of Dying Light, our goal has been to immerse players in the zombie apocalypse. In Dying Light: The Beast, we pushed parkour and combat to the next level.
Parkour feels grounded with natural, weighty body movement and carefully balanced jump physics that eliminate floatiness. Players can climb anywhere without stamina limits, but must use observation to reach tricky spots. There are no parkour assists in default mode, keeping the challenge realistic, while the environment of Castor Woods allows for seamless flow and exploration. Kyle now has 17 unique edge grab animations and over 100 new animations that show his agility and skill at every step.
Combat - physical, brutal & creative - is based on a new physics engine that delivers realistic hit reactions and precise impact on enemy bodies. Swing and stop animations have been improved to make every hit feel powerful, while active ragdoll and short animations create fluid, responsive reactions. Human enemies support stealth playstyle and use advanced cover mechanics during shootouts with up to 22 different positioning strategies. The damage model lets players destroy over a dozen body parts with more visible and varied wounds than before, making every encounter intense and rewarding.
But that's not all! Watch the dev diary with Kacper Kowalczuk - Technical Game Director, Marcin Bahryn-Kamiński - Senior Animator, and Tymon Smektała - Dying Light Franchise Director, who share even more juicy details.
“They tried to break him. They created The Beast.”
Tortured for years, you’re finally out in the wild. You are free and seeking revenge, but you may have just traded one hell for another. Welcome to the beautiful zombie apocalypse. Welcome to Castor Woods.
Here the hand-crafted open world meets nail-biting survival horror as you explore the region, uncovering tales, horrors and mysteries that lie beneath the surface. Rain or shine, take in your surroundings traversing the dense forests, historic tourist town, swamps, farmfields and hiking trails high in the national park. There are stories of survival at every corner of this stunning valley.
The region is brought to life with high fidelity graphics fully utilizing technical advancements, like the heavily reworked lighting system that includes dynamic sky and sun movement. Dynamic weather pushes the immersion to the next level that not only changes the visuals, but also impacts gameplay. In fact, it’s so immersive even the zombies can’t help but gaze at the sun when it sets. This world doesn’t just feel lived in, it feels alive. Even if most of its inhabitants are dead.
To see the next sunrise here, you need to move. Feel the rush of the best-in-class representation of first-person perspective parkour: leap between rooftops, scale buildings and dash through enemy fire. Use everything in your parkour moveset to outrun and outmaneuver whatever’s chasing you. This is grounded and immersive. This is physical and realistic. This is what the edge of your seat was made for.
And if that’s not enough, grab one of the 4x4s left around the valley and put the pedal to the metal! Roam across the terrain to get where you want even quicker, or use it as Dying Light: The Beast’s heaviest weapon and mow down anything that stands in your way. But don’t forget: this is a survival game and just like you, a vehicle is not indestructible. There’s no greater dread than realising you're down to fuel fumes in the middle of the forest, surrounded by shrieks of Volatiles leaving their hives to hunt for the night.
Even for Kyle Crane, survival is tough out in the wild. But you push to see the next day on your quest for revenge. You’ll get that bastard, the Baron, no matter the cost.
Yet, something inside feels wrong. What the hell is going on within you?
Unleash the Beast - September 19
They all claim to be Kyle Crane, but they can’t all be telling the truth, can they? While they may disagree on which of them is actually Kyle, there is something they do seem to be able to agree on…
Meet, and put a face to, the actors behind the iconic voice of the Hero of Harran in Dying Light: The Beast. We wanted to make sure as many players as possible could experience Kyle in their native languages and that the quality was the best it could be. Well, these guys have put their heart and soul into their performances, and you’ll get to experience them when Dying Light: The Beast is unleashed!
Discover the journey of Kyle Crane, the hero of Dying Light. This dev diary goes behind the Beast and explores his evolution and the emotional challenges of bringing his story to life in Dying Light: The Beast.
Years and years of the Baron’s brutal experiments have left you - Kyle Crane - half man, half monster. Captured, beaten and tortured in the name of science; your DNA, a mix of human and zombie, clashes within you. The scars, both physical and mental, provide a constant reminder of what that bastard did to you. Everything he put you through. All the pain. All the agony. All the suffering.
Breaking loose from your restraints, escaping the lab is the top priority. Use everything at your disposal: blunt and slashing weapons, firearms, molotov cocktails and other deadly accessories, anything you can find. And if all else fails, smash through foes with your fists. Be creative. Be physical. Be brutal.
No matter what you choose, Dying Light: The Beast takes the emergent combat to the extreme. Weapons feel realistic with each swing, slash and trigger pulled, the gore shows the brutal devastation you leave behind. The hit reactions of enemies combine physics, ragdolls and short animations for a spectacle of violence. Now, spill the blood and guts of anyone who stands in the way of freedom, whether they’re human or zombie. You are Kyle Crane. You are The Beast.
But beware: You don’t know what world you’ll have to survive outside the lab walls. Escaping one hell might just lead to another…
Unleash the Beast - September 19
Get ready to dive into the action! During event you have incredible superhuman strength, your punches and kicks will launch enemies like ragdolls. Remember, Hypermode will be in effect until September 2nd!
With Dying Light: The Beast so close to being unleashed, there’s never been a better time to experience Kyle Crane origin story and get a feel for a tense atmosphere and horror, that’s been such an inspiration for the upcoming game. 🔥 Immerse yourself in Harran during Steam’s Free Weekend lasting till 25th of August. 🙌
Check out Tymon’s update on the Dying Light franchise. The Stamina Update has kicked off in Dying Light 2: Stay Human and a Steam’s Free Weekend is just around the corner for Dying Light! 😎
Oh, so you were expecting a relaxing getaway in Dying Light: The Beast? Well, Bober the Beaver is here to set the record straight! In his new guide, he will cover all the insane activities that will keep you on the edge day and night.
Check it out now before Castor Woods opens on September 19.
About
This page aggregates Steam news feeds, patch notes, and developer announcements for Dying Light, sourced from official Steam community posts.
Major updates, balance changes, and seasonal events often correlate with player-count spikes — cross-reference announcements here with the live charts on the main Dying Light statistics page.
Articles link back to Steam for full changelogs. SteamScope refreshes news entries as new posts are published to the game's Steam hub.