Dev Blog #3

Hey, it’s Tymon here. Today, I come to you in a contemplative mood, as recently, I got a bit of time (yeah, I know, crazy right?) to sit down and take a look back at the year that has passed. Obviously, it’s not over yet, but I think it’s the right time to give a moment of attention to the huge amount of work we’ve done this year as a team to make Dying Light 2 Stay Human a better game for you. And we’re committed to at least 5 years of post-launch support, so there’s no slowing down!

We’ve just recently released Community Update #3 and judging by your comments, you seem to enjoy the content we put out there. Thank you for your feedback, by the way, it really helps a lot! Because of it, we have more clarity when it comes to adjusting the game. And, if you remember, 2023 started with a bang that was the Anniversary Update, when we introduced plenty of changes… let me grab a helpful image, because it sure was a lot:

We’ve also been busy with a new way to present our work to you: live streams. Each time was hugely stressful – I’m speaking for myself here, and also for my colleagues who performed live – but at the same time we were super happy to do something for you, especially as you react so favorably to us showing you what we do. 

Since the anniversary, we haven’t stopped for a moment! Next came Gut Feeling Update, where we focused on increasing brutality and juiciness of our combat, but also added numerous other options, like Gear Transmog or Weapon Crafting. Below, you can see the before & after clip that takes “gut-wrenching” very literally:

Personally, I was the most excited about Good Night, Good Luck Update. On that occasion, we focused on increasing the physicality of our parkour – here a special thank you is in order to our Community Council as well as the content creators representation who tested this feature before the release in its beta stage and provided many valuable comments. Special shout out needs to go to Noviex, a long time player of Dying Light 2 Stay Human, influencer, and a true parkour expert, who always pushed us to achieve more in terms of traversal. Thank you!

But that wasn’t the end of it, as we went for a bold move and made the Dying Light 2 Stay Human nights even scarier, bringing back roaming volatiles and the dark and tense atmosphere that you loved in the first game. Obviously, the nights have become very scary now – I even heard some of you saying that they’re too scary – but isn’t that the whole deal with Dying Light? To feel the Volatiles’ breath on your neck?

The second half of the year was also interesting. After moving our bundles to the in-game store and the admittedly bumpy start of DL Points – still working on improving that, no worries – we focused on User Generated Content. For example, we further integrated mod.io, making the maps created by our modding community accessible from the main menu of the game. Right now, everybody can play those awesome (and sometimes unhinged) maps – not just on PC, but also on consoles and Steam Deck.

My personal favorite is the “Return to the Slums” (image below), a great, great take on the Slums map from the first Dying Light. My advice to you is to set the FOV to a narrow 53 (as was the default setting in the first game), put on your headphones, dim the lights… and soak in the superb atmosphere. 

Just take a look here to see how it looks when our great Modding Community takes over our dev tools.

To make maps even cooler, we released various asset packs, for example from the first Dying Light or even from Dead Island – and we’re preparing more surprises in this vein!

Later, our Community Update #3 also caused quite a stir – read more about it here – but it’s definitely not the last thing we have coming this year!

Apart from the updates, events were also happening on the regular – I’ve counted around 25 in total this year. They are a neat way to welcome you back to the game and encourage you to check how Dying Light 2 Stay Human is changing for you. Some of those events were crossovers, with Dying Light coming together with world-renowned brands, such as The Walking Dead, PAYDAY 2, Vampire: The Masquerade, or the latest one, For Honor.

Wow. Looking back at all of this, I have to admit that even I didn’t fully realize how much content we added to the game this year. Time flies when you're having fun, huh? As I’ve mentioned, we’re not slowing down, but rather lining up some new surprises for you. The next point on the agenda is the upcoming update, which will be released sometime this winter. It’ll deliver the next portion of changes promised in the Sneak Peak.

I’d like to give thanks from the bottom of my heart to our developers for their work on evolving Dying Light 2 Stay Human into the game it is today. Your recognition is our best motivation, so if you’re enjoying the changes we've implemented, I’d like to use this opportunity and humbly ask you to support us in this year’s Steam Awards. We’re all very happy to be able to share our passion with you – it’s the reason we keep working on our game. And if you like what we’re doing with it, you might consider giving Dying Light 2 Stay Human a shout out in the Labor of Love category by nominating us or leaving a review. It’s reserved for games that receive long-time support from its developers, so I think it’s quite a good fit!

Thank you all for your attention and please remember that you can share your thoughts and feedback related to the Dev Blog on the reddit channel. Maybe you’d like us to address something specific using this format? Let us know!