Surprisingly enough after a recent delay that put Techland's upcoming title's release date out until early 2022, Dying Light 2: Stay Human has now received an ESRB rating closer to the previously estimated release window. This isn't the first rating the game has received as well, with Europe's PEGI ratings board confirming Dying Light 2 as an "18" a week before the ESRB had a chance to file similarly.
These official ratings for Dying Light 2 could imply that a finished or near-finished version of the game does currently exist, especially for two separate boards to be able to deliver their decisions. If this is the case, then it is possible that the decision to delay is fairly recent, possibly in an attempt to finish delivering an extra coat of polish to bring the game up to the state developer Techland hopes for it to be at on launch.
The rating given to Dying Light 2 by the ESRB is an M, which in the US means it will only be available to purchase for customers age 17 and up, unlike what was assigned by the PEGI system. This status as a "mature" title isn't surprising, given Dying Light 2's zombie horror genre as well as the graphic and political tone of the original game's story, which the sequel appears to be following up on. In the case of the differences between PEGI and ESRB, this comes down to the more general way that the ESRB rates titles through categories from E to M, while PEGI specifies a more exact age range if not labeled U for universal.
It isn't entirely uncommon for a rating from the ESRB or PEGI to come before the game releases, but seeing this happen with a four month wait still to go is odd as far as ratings systems goes. The strangeness mostly comes from the fact that both of these ratings boards need a somewhat complete version of the game in order to give it a proper rating, based on both the moment to moment zombie fighting and the cinematic and narrative content. This could imply that a version of the game was considered complete before the decision was eventually made to delay the Dying Light 2 for further polish.
If this is the case that the game was nearly ready to launch this soon, but is now being delayed, then that could mean that delaying Dying Light 2 was the right move on Techland's part. Fans can already expect to see the brutal, mature action that would be expected from the first game, but hopefully these early ratings are another sign that the launching product will be a polished experience. Considering how long fans have waited for this game to finally release, seeing the developer take extra care to release it properly should be comforting.
Dying Light 2: Stay Human is set to release February 4th, 2022, for PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.