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Subscribe from just £3 Takes you closer to the games, movies and TV you love Try a single issue or save on a subscription Issues delivered straight to your door or device From£9.99View Summer Game Fest New games for 2025 Upcoming Switch 2 games Switch 2 stock Recommended reading Survival Horror Games "Our fans would kill us": Dying Light: The Beast director outlines Techland's "areas of perfection" that "we cannot mess up to any extent" Survival Horror Games "For us, it really is Dying Light 3": Techland admits Dying Light 2 "lost the horror, lost the tension," but says The Beast is "the best Dying Light that we have ever made" Survival Horror Games Dying Light: The Beast director says he's "a little bit surprised" that more studios haven't followed Techland's "go anywhere" approach to open-world game design Survival Horror Games Dying Light: The Beast dev says "we are not Call of Duty" and the series has a "complicated relationship" with guns, but The Beast's firearms should finally be "on par" with melee Open World Games Dying Light: The Beast – Everything we know so far Horror Games Dying Light: The Beast dev reveals the unlikely inspiration for Kyle Crane's new abilities – "I think of Pac-Man as a survival horror game" Survival Horror Games 2 years after getting too big to be Dying Light 2 DLC, Dying Light: The Beast finally launches this August Survival Horror Games Dying Light: The Beast Dying Light: The Beast director says no-one expected Dying Light 1 to be "such a kickass game," but admits "we made some missteps" on Dying Light 2 25 June 2025 Techland wants to prove it's still got its parkour zombie mojo When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works. (Image credit: Techland) Dying Light 1 was "a kickass game," but developer Techland tried to do too much with its sequel, and it's trying to recapture some of what it lost with Dying Light 2 when it comes to Dying Light: The Beast. In an interview with GamesRadar+, franchise director Tymon Smektala said that "when we were releasing Dying Light 1, we were this underdog studio that no one expected to do such a kickass game as Dying Light was." While he acknowledges that "you could say it wasn't the most high-budget, most-AAA, high-budget game," it's hard to suggest that Techland wasn't punching above its weight with its debut game. Sadly, Smektala admits that it lost some of that magic when it came to Dying Light 2. While he points out that the studio's follow-up "was a commercial success," he admits, "maybe we made some missteps." Some of those mistakes, he suggests, were that "we just wanted the game to be a little bit too accessible" to a wider audience, and in chasing that, Techland "sacrificed some of the Dying Light DNA." You may like "Our fans would kill us": Dying Light: The Beast director outlines Techland's "areas of perfection" that "we cannot mess up to any extent" "For us, it really is Dying Light 3": Techland admits Dying Light 2 "lost the horror, lost the tension," but says The Beast is "the best Dying Light that we have ever made" Dying Light: The Beast director says he's "a little bit surprised" that more studios haven't followed Techland's "go anywhere" approach to open-world game design Dying Light: The Beast is the best game in the series? | Developer interview - YouTube It's a well-known adage that a game for everyone is a game for no one, and in its attempt to make Dying Light 2 "the kind of high-budget, AAA game" that Dying Light 1 wasn't, Techland fumbled its more dedicated followers. "Our fans were telling us 'that's not it, that's not what made you so special,'" he says. Still, Dying Light 2 was more of a stumble than a fall, and with Dying Light: The Beast, Smektala says Techland wants to find a middle ground between its two previous games. "We want to deliver both. We want to deliver the AAA quality, but at the same time, we want to deliver proof that our mojo is not gone, that our mojo is not there, and we know what makes Dying Light, Dying Light. And if players say 'wow, this feels like Dying Light 1, and it looks so amazing, it's such a polished game', then I think we'll be very, very happy." This isn't the first time Smektala has acknowledged the parts of the Dying Light experience Techland has nailed - or flubbed. Elsewhere in the interview, he notes that there are "areas of perfection" in Dying Light that fans would be devastated if The Beast undermined. But he maintains a real sense of confidence in the series, noting that he's surprised he hasn't seen more of Dying Light's ideas reimagined in the rest of the industry. That's the kind of attitude you don't get to have unless you feel you've made some waves - or that your game is "kickass" enough to have attracted some real attention. "For us, it really is Dying Light 3": Techland admits Dying Light 2 "lost the horror, lost the tension," but says The Beast is "the best Dying Light that we have ever made" Sign up to the GamesRadar+ Newsletter Weekly digests, tales from the communities you love, and more Contact me with news and offers from other Future brandsReceive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsorsBy submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over. See more Xbox Series X News Summer Game Fest Xbox Series X PlayStation Social Links Navigation Managing Editor, News I'm GamesRadar's Managing Editor for news, shaping the news strategy across the team. I started my journalistic career while getting my degree in English Literature at the University of Warwick, where I also worked as Games Editor on the student newspaper, The Boar. Since then, I've run the news sections at PCGamesN and Kotaku UK, and also regularly contributed to PC Gamer. As you might be able to tell, PC is my platform of choice, so you can regularly find me playing League of Legends or Steam's latest indie hit. You must confirm your public display name before commenting Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name. "Our fans would kill us": Dying Light: The Beast director outlines Techland's "areas of perfection" that "we cannot mess up to any extent" "For us, it really is Dying Light 3": Techland admits Dying Light 2 "lost the horror, lost the tension," but says The Beast is "the best Dying Light that we have ever made" Dying Light: The Beast director says he's "a little bit surprised" that more studios haven't followed Techland's "go anywhere" approach to open-world game design Dying Light: The Beast dev says "we are not Call of Duty" and the series has a "complicated relationship" with guns, but The Beast's firearms should finally be "on par" with melee Dying Light: The Beast – Everything we know so far Dying Light: The Beast dev reveals the unlikely inspiration for Kyle Crane's new abilities – "I think of Pac-Man as a survival horror game" Latest in Survival Horror Games 10 years later, the original Dying Light is getting a chunky visual upgrade with audio improvements this week, but it's not a "complete overhaul or remaster" Dying Light: The Beast director says he's "a little bit surprised" that more studios haven't followed Techland's "go anywhere" approach to open-world game design Setting Silent Hill f in Japan is the smartest move Konami has made for the survival horror series since The Room moved out in 2004 "Our fans would kill us": Dying Light: The Beast director outlines Techland's "areas of perfection" that "we cannot mess up to any extent" 29 years of Resident Evil has left the horror series riddled with lore issues, but I'm convinced Requiem can finally tie it all together I played 30 minutes of the new game from the original Little Nightmares devs, and it turns out a twin-stick survival horror Metroidvania is a recipe for spooky heaven Latest in News Before it was Square Enix, Square "collapsed" when Final Fantasy boss Hironobu Sakaguchi left the company, says composer Nobuo Uematsu: "The situation at Square was awful after he quit" The Social Network is finally getting its long discussed sequel with original writer Aaron Sorkin, and this time he'll also direct Blizzard builds a $158 gacha wall in front of a cute pet, tilting Hearthstone players straight off a cliff: "So disappointing for such an adorable boy" A permanent Switch 2 console ban has apparently stranded Twink Link in Nintendo support hell: "The guy over the phone was laughing at the username" Genshin Impact has an actual new endgame mode after 5 years, and it is kicking the crap out of everyone – even whales who've spent thousands of dollars Superman director James Gunn shares a twisted new look at one of the film's most mysterious characters GAME REVIEWS MOVIE REVIEWS Death Stranding 2: On the Beach review: "This tarpunk delivery epic is more Metal Gear Solid than ever, for better and worse" Rematch review: "As with Rocket League, the just-one-more-game pull is magnetic" Tron: Catalyst review: "Disc slinging is a thrill in this gorgeous rendition of the series, but I'm let down by a time-loop story that falls flat" FBC: Firebreak review: "A disappointingly bland multiplayer FPS that's missing far too much of what made Control special" Dune: Awakening review: "Both extremely compelling and extraordinarily boring, sometimes at the same time – yet still a true Dune love letter" M3GAN 2.0 review: "A bold sequel with a slightly underwhelming conclusion" 28 Years Later Review: "Enough terror, splatter and suspense to satisfy” Predator: Killer of Killers review: "Great characters, thrilling action, and gorgeous Arcane-esque animation" From the World of John Wick: Ballerina review: "Brilliant action, even if the plot gives you a sense of déjà vu" Karate Kid: Legends review: "Better than Karate Kid (2010), nothing on Karate Kid (1984)" Ironheart review: "A relic of Marvel's content-at-all-costs era" Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 3 review: "The show's most assured run of episodes to date" Doctor Who season 2, episode 8 spoiler review: 'The Reality War' is "a mix of the good, the bad, and the truly baffling" Doctor Who season 2, episode 7 spoiler review: 'Wish World' is "an exciting and ambitious" start to the season finale, with hints of WandaVision Rick and Morty season 8 review: "Largely plays it too safe after years of crossing boundaries" GamesRadar+ is part of Future plc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. 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