Over the course of the three entries thus far, the Dying Light series has become a staple if you're a fan of outrunning hordes of zombies. That said, the road to last year's Dying Light: The Beast wasn't the smoothest, as studio Techland learned some hard lessons from the second installment.
"It's the details that make your game, because your franchise is not only about the great vision, the pillars, but the little things that create the unique feel of your game," Tymon Smektala, former franchise director at Techland, said during a Digital Dragons talk attended by GamesRadar+.
"We learned that right away when we launched Dying Light 2 in 2022. It was a hard lesson," he explained. "The game was very hyped, millions of players [were] waiting for it. We launched it and quickly realized that even [though on the] surface it's quite similar, almost the same type of game, we had missed a lot of the details, the little things that were important for players, and they were very vocal about it."
He puts this down to a mixture of focusing on deadlines and working on a new engine and other requirements that warped the perspective somewhat. In Dying Light 2 updates, then, Techland wound up trying to make something for everyone, which didn't work either.
"Some want more tension, some want more RPG elements, more parkour," he says. "Combat could be less bloody, more bloody. Realism, power fantasy, the first game again, or maybe something new. So, you want to give everything to everyone all at once, but it is a trap."
Honing in on what makes Dying Light special - in my view, the particular blend of carnage, exploration and terror - allowed The Beast to be a return to form, of sorts. It was "very strong proof" of a solitary principle.
"We learned that quality beats quantity," Smektala explained. "We slowed down, we focused more, we adapted that for Dying Light 2, and kept using that mindset for Dying Light: The Beast, understanding that the quality of core elements is more important than satisfying all of the needs and expectations."
It worked, because The Beast released to over 90% positive Steam reviews, and a fervent player-base who were quick to stomp the undead by the billions. Sometimes you just need to figure out what really works, even if it includes a gratuitous amount of headshots.
