Long-time Dying Light veteran Tymon Smektala spoke openly about what went wrong with Dying Light 2: Stay Human and what Techland had to fix in Dying Light: The Beast during a recent talk at the recent Digital Dragons event in Krakow, Poland. As reported by Gamesradar, Smektala noted that the studio had lost sight of what really mattered, trying to cater to everyone, but they refocused on quality over quantity with Dying Light: The Beast.
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. We learned that right away when we launched Dying Light 2 in 2022. It was a hard lesson. The game was very hyped, with millions of players 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.
Some want more tension, some want more RPG elements, more parkour. 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. We learned that quality beats quantity. 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.
Dying Light: The Beast was well-received on Steam, selling over a million copies on Valve's platform alone in the span of a few days. Smektala, by the way, has just left Techland after thirteen years at the studio. He hasn't shared yet what he'll be doing next.
About the author: With over two decades of experience in gaming journalism, Alessio Palumbo has led the gaming vertical at Wccftech since August 2015. He started working at a young age for Italian websites like Everyeye.it, Gamestar.it, Nextgame.it, and Multiplayer.it before kickstarting the indie English-language publication Worlds Factory as its founder and Editor in Chief. In the last decade, he has coordinated the overall output of Wccftech's gaming section, managed PR relations, assigned reviews, produced daily news coverage, edited gaming content as needed, and delivered game reviews. Arguably, his trademark content is the long series of exclusive developer interviews that have been cited by Wikipedia and by the biggest news media and gaming publications. His passion for technology also makes him knowledgeable when it comes to gaming hardware and tech. His favorite genres include RPGs, MMORPGs, and action/adventure games.
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