Techland has been pretty forthcoming recently with new details for Dying Light 2 Stay Human, its highly anticipated sequel to the 2015 action adventure title. Of course, this is following its delay from December to February 4th 2022, and while not the shortest waiting period, it also isn’t the title’s first delay. According to lead game designer Tymon Smektala though, the chances of another delay are “zero.”
Speaking to MP1st at a recent press event, Smektala said, He also noted that “there was a couple of reasons for the fact that we delayed the game. Of course COVID was one of the factors, but I don’t want to put the blame on COVID because all of us had to go through it, and all of us had to face some struggle and new challenges because of the pandemic.”
Smektala believes that the most important reason is due to working on a non-linear game and that when it comes to polishing, “You’re actually not polishing one game, but few games at the same time. Because the same game can have so many variants, and some of those variants can be so drastically different that you have to verify every playthrough, not just 1000 times, but 1000 times multiplied by the number of variations in the game. So this is the reason for the delay, and also this is our baby. This is our IP. The Dying Light IP is owned by our studio. So we just knew that we couldn’t release the game if it’s not ready to release.”
Of course, the studio’s success with the first game is also a factor. “Another reason for that, why we were looking and why we decided to postpone the release to fine-tune the quality is that Dying Light 1 was such a success. Not because of what the media was saying, but because of how players accepted, and liked, and loved the game. I think we have one of the most active and vocal community out there, and to be honest the pressure is way higher than it was with the first game because we understand we cannot disappoint those guys. I know that hearing about the delay is disappointing, but I think it’s better than getting a game which wasn’t meant to be released in the first place, that wasn’t ready to be release.”
Dying Light 2 Stay Human is currently in development for Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, PS4, PS5, PC and Nintendo Switch. It recently received some new gameplay showcasing the paragliding, parkour and combat along with some of Lawan (played by Rosario Dawson). Smektala also recently hinted at the possibility of adding co-op focuses classes in the future – read more about that here.