We finally know more about Dying Light 2 (officially called Dying Light 2: Stay Human), following over a year’s radio silence from developer Techland.
For a long time, we weren’t sure if Dying Light 2 would ever come to fruition. Following its announcement at E3 2018, Techland initially set a release window of early 2020 for the long-awaited sequel. However, in January 2020, the developer announced the game was delayed – giving no new release window.
But thanks to a Dying Light 2 live stream on May 27, we now know Dying Light 2 is back on track and due to release December 7, 2021. The highly anticipated survival horror looks to be considerably bigger than its predecessor with player choice at the center of the narrative. Want to know more? Here’s everything we know so far about Dying Light 2: Stay Human.
[Update: The PC Gaming show brought us a brand new look at Dying Light 2. Take a look for yourself below.]
Dying Light 2: what you need to know
- What is it? The sequel to survival horror Dying Light
- When can I play it? December 7, 2021
- What can I play it on? PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S and PC
Dying Light 2 release date
Dying Light 2 will release on December 7, 2021 for PS4, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S and PS5.
Dying Light 2 was announced at E3 2018, with an initial release date set for sometime in early 2020. However, in January 2020, developer Techland announced that the game was delayed – with no new release window given.
While Techland remained tight-lipped about Dying Light 2 details for over a year after the delay, we finally got confirmation of the sequel’s new release date during the Dying 2 Know live stream on May 27.
Dying Light 2 trailers
We got a brand new trailer for Dying Light 2 during the PC Gaming Show at E3 2021. Over the course of four minutes, the trailer gives some insight into the game’s protagonist Aiden and his quest to find his sister after their separation in a terrifying hostile world. You can watch the trailer for yourself below:
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Dying Light 2 official gameplay trailer
After over a year of radio silence, Techland finally hosted a Dying Light 2 live stream to update players on the game’s development – and when it would release. The latest gameplay trailer gave us some background on Dying Light 2’s setting, including the factions that fight for control of The City. We also got a look at some of the grotesque and mutated monsters we’ll be encountering. Check it out below:
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Dying Light 2 4K gameplay demo
The last – and longest – official Dying Light 2 trailer we saw was back in August 2019. The 26-minute 4K gameplay demo gave us our best look yet at what we can expect from Dying Light 2, giving us a glimpse of the world, traversal, combat and the consequences of your choices in action. Check it out below:
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Dying Light 2 E3 2019 trailer
The E3 2019 cinematic trailer revealed Dying Light 2’s initial release window of “Spring 2020” (which was later delayed). Check it out below:
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Dying Light 2 gameplay world premiere trailer
The second trailer revealed at E3 2018 gave us our first look at Dying Light 2’s gameplay. Much like its predecessor, Dying Light 2 looks to be parkour heavy, with new protagonist Aiden traversing the world in style.
The trailer also explains how Dying Light 2’s “functioning ecosystem” reacts to the player’s choices and showcases a mission that sees Aiden undertaking a quest for a faction called the Peacekeepers. The city will change depending on whether you choose to carry out their orders, with each choice impacting the wider ecosystem. Each choice has its benefits and drawbacks, with Techland stating there are hundreds of choices to be made. Check it out below:
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Dying Light 2 announcement trailer
Dying Light 2 was announced back at E3 2018 with this official announcement trailer, giving us our first look at Dying Light 2’s decaying open world which will change depending on the choices players make. Check It out below:
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Dying Light 2 gameplay and setting
Dying Light 2, like its predecessor, is set in a post-apocalyptic open world, plagued zombie-like infected and ruthless survivors. Stay Human is set in Villedor (AKA The City), a huge urban area in Europe that is the last bastion of humanity. The City has has been divided into regions and is set to be four times larger than in the original game, with three factions (Peacemakers, Renegades and Nightrunners) all vying for control.
Taking place 20 years after the events of the first game, and 15 years after the apocalypse, Dying Light 2 introduces a new protagonist, Aiden Caldwell, who is an infected survivor (best of both worlds, eh?) seeking to uncover the truth about his past and find his sister – a search that leads him to The City. It’s up to the player whether Aiden focuses on his own goal or decides to help rebuild The City.
Thanks to Aiden’s brutal combat abilities and athleticism, he’s a commodity in this world and so factions are itching to get him on their side as the city teeters on the brink of collapse due to a water shortage. Techland has said that players will be able to hone Aiden’s skills to their playstyle, with a focus on either combat, parkour or crafting – though you will be able to mix things up a bit.
Choices play a huge role in Dying Light 2. Each choice you make will impact the ecosystem of the world, resulting in visible changes to the world itself and to the game’s narrative. No pressure. According to Techland there are over one hundred choices to make and even if you complete the game, you’ll have only seen 50% of what’s on offer.
Dying Light 2 will also continue to have a focus on parkour for traversal, but offers new ways of getting around including paragliding, grappling and using zombies to break your fall. According to Techland, there are over 3000 parkour animations in Dying Light 2 – double that of Dying Light. Also, like in Dying Light, Stay Human has a day/night cycle that sees the streets becoming even more hostile during the nighttime – though those who venture out may be rewarded with extra loot.
While some aspects are the same, Dying Light 2 does introduce a bunch of new elements including new zombies, melee weapons and characters.
Dying Light 2 news and rumors
Day/Night system making a difference
In a recent interview with PC Gamer, Dying Light 2 creative director Adrian Ciszewski has given some details on the game’s day/night system and how it impacts the game. According to Ciszewski, “The night is the common enemy for everyone in Dying Light 2. During the day, everyone has their own agenda. You might hate one of the factions. But when night falls, everyone has one enemy: the Infected.”
Ciszewski explains that night changes the game because at that time the streets, ruled by humans in the day, become overrun by Infected. “The floor is lava, basically,” he says. “You should stay on the rooftops. If you jump to ground level, it’s gonna be painful. You’ll be pursued and encounter Screamers.“
Aside from changing what enemies players will encounter, night in the game also “brings interesting gameplay opportunities. If you travel the world during the day, you’re gonna see a lot of Infected in buildings—almost like I Am Legend—who are asleep. They’re waiting for night to go hunting. So when they go out at night, they leave those interiors almost empty. And that’s an opportunity for you to visit these places.“
Ciszewski gives the metro system as an example of a place that’s more explorable at night, adding “the day/night system isn’t just a gimmick, it’s a part of the world. If a quest involves you going through an underground tunnel, waiting for night will make your life much easier.“
Keeping an eye on your infection level, however, is important and makes moving around at night even more complicated. “Everyone in this world is infected,” Ciszewski explains. “The more time you spend in darkness, the more the infection bar rises up. So you’re not only managing time, but your infection level. But you can give yourself more time with food items or injections.”
Four-player multiplayer co-op
Like Dying Light, Dying Light 2 will offer four player co-op. Details on how this will work haven’t been shared yet, but we imagine it’ll take the same form as in its predecessor, offering players the ability to set up a session with friends through matchmaking. It’s also not been revealed if this co-op mode will be cross-platform but in a recent interview with GamesRadar animation director Dawid Lubryka recommended co-op as an “opportunity to see how the world changes when your friend makes different decisions to you”.
“In co-op, you can walk in their shoes to experience all those differences, but there really is no one way of playing Dying Light 2. It’s up to you!”
What’s happened between Dying Light and Dying Light 2?
According to Techland, Dying Light 2 takes place 20 years after the events of Dying Light but 15 years after the apocalypse. The developer has said that following the events of Dying Light, Harran became an exclusion zone as world leaders aimed to battle against the pandemic.
While this worked for a while, scientists secretly worked on mutating the infection for military applications. Christmas 2021 seen the mutated strain escaping and wreaking havoc and, by the end of 2023, 98% of the population had died. Villedor, The City Dying Light 2 is set in, is the last city standing.