There was a definite period of zombie fatigue in video games, with gamers growing tired of the way decaying rambling corpses would crop up far too regularly. Luckily, Techland's 2015 Dying Light offered a new spin on the over-used undead tropes, presenting players with an open-world survival horror with dynamic parkour elements and a challenging day-night cycle. The inevitable follow-up, Dying Light 2 Stay Human, was released in 2022 and was praised for expanding on what the original game offered and delivering another fast-paced, slick action RPG. That's not to say it's perfect, but then again, no game is.
Much like the first game, Techland is committed to providing post-launch content for Dying Light 2 and has already delivered a New Game+ mode, as well as additional aspects like booster events and new mutations. However, players were left a little disappointed when it was recently announced that Dying Light 2's first Story DLC expansion will be moved out of its original June release window. The three-month delay to September may frustrate or even worry some fans, but there are reasons why the pushed-back launch could actually be a good thing.
Daylight 2's Story DLC
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While Dying Light 2's dense open-world, expanded free-running mechanics, and balanced tactical combat all received praise, its story did face some criticism. Some considered the voice-acting and writing to be a little disappointing and lackluster, and many are looking to the upcoming story DLC to provide some more interesting narrative elements to the game. The DLC will also run parallel to the main story, so players don't need to worry about having to finish their game before they can jump in. The delay just means that's happening later and also provides time to improve on various elements of the DLC.
However, fans shouldn't despair. When the announcement came about the delay for Dying Light 2's Story DLC, Techland also showed off a new roadmap for post-launch support. This included the much-requested Photo Mode, as well as Chapters of content between now and the new release of the Story DLC. The first Chapter, called "In the Footsteps of a Nightrunner," will bring community events, new enemies, and new missions among others to the base game. The delay and the updated roadmap show Techland's commitment to Dying Light 2 and should be seen as a positive thing instead of a cause for concern.
Delays In Post-launch Content
One of the biggest problems in video game development is releasing games and expansions before they're ready. This can happen for a number of reasons, from pressure from higher-ups to studios not wanting to disappoint fans with multiple delays. However, this can lead to games and DLCs shipping that are far from finished, and players are still expected to pay full price for less-than-ideal products. Developers then try to win back gamer goodwill with promises of post-launch fixes, similar to Cyberpunk 2077's journey, but it doesn't seem unreasonable to expect a game to be finished content-wise and relatively bug-free already at launch.
Dying Light 2 didn't experience many issues at launch, and on the whole, players were really happy with the game. But with Techland promising years of post-launch support, gamers are excited to see how the title will change and improve, ironing out the rough patches and adding substantial content to keep them busy. The fact that Techland is putting in the time to get Dying Light 2's first Story DLC right bodes well for the upcoming expansions and players should be pleased that the studio is being transparent about its process and working to get things as good as they can be before release.
Dying Light 2 Stay Human is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S, with plans to arrive on Switch later this year.