Dying Light 2 has been in development for some time now. The game was first announced back in 2018, and after being shown at E3 in 2019, has not been seen almost at all since then. While some might consider that concerning, Polish video game developer Techland has denied accusations that the game is in development hell.
Techland has also had some internal turmoil during its development of Dying Light 2, including fights over creative control and sexual assault allegations, which led to the narrative director of the game being ousted from the company and the game being delayed, “indefinitely.” More recently, several anonymous employees accused CEO Pawel Marchewka of fostering a hostile work environment, using homophobic slurs to refer to employee’s work.
All of this leads some people to say that the game is in development hell, like what one person did in a reply to Techland’s tweet yesterday announcing a development update for Dying Ligth 2 for next week. The official Twitter account was quick to respond, saying that the development of the game does not fall under the definition of development hell.
According to Techland, development hell requires a game to not actually be making any development progress, and that Dying Light 2 has been “moving forward.” In a surprising bit of candor for an official twitter account, the tweet admitted that Techland announced the game too early in development, and that is why it seems like the game is in development hell. While this may be true, this news does also seem to match with previous instances of Techland denying that anything is amiss with the game’s development.
Regardless of how the development may have been going in the past, it seems the game is nearing the late stages of development. In January, photos of the Collector’s Edition leaked online, which would include UV stickers and a UV flashlight, a steelbook, an art book, a Secret Location’s map, postcards, and a statue. Collector’s Editions are usually announced when a game is within a year of release, so it stands to reason that Dying Light 2 is likely to release this year, and that the update scheduled for March 17 could reveal the Collector’s Edition and the game’s release date.
Techland was also the subject of more rumors last month that the video game studio was in the process of being purchased by Microsoft, but the studio refuted those claims as well. Techland will stay independent for now, and will reveal more info about Dying Light 2 on March 17.
Dying Light 2 is currently in development for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.