Are you ready for the ultimate zombie showdown? What began as mere DLC for Dying Light 2 has transformed into an ambitious standalone title: Dying Light: The Beast. This thrilling new chapter sees the legendary protagonist, Kyle Crane, make his grand return, with the project expanding significantly beyond its initial scope.
Dying Light: The Beast promises to reignite the intense horror the series is known for, featuring chilling new environments and weaving a deeper narrative that connects the first two installments. It also offers a tantalizing glimpse into the future of the franchise. Join us as we uncover every detail about Dying Light: The Beast, from its anticipated release to the terrifying world within.
Dying Light: The Beast Release Date
Mark your calendars! Dying Light: The Beast launched on Thursday, September 18, 2025, after a brief delay. This highly anticipated new adventure is available now on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series consoles.
Techland announced in late July 2025 that the game would be pushed back by a month, a decision made to ensure a more polished and refined experience for players. The delay allowed the developers to implement crucial “balance tweaks, UI improvements, and enhancements to physics,” alongside fine-tuning cutscenes and player animations.
For those who purchased the Dying Light 2 Ultimate Edition, there’s fantastic news: Dying Light: The Beast is included for free, as it was originally conceived as part of that DLC package. If you’re one of the fortunate owners of this edition, consider yourself lucky, as it’s no longer available for purchase. Otherwise, The Beast will be a separate purchase.
Dying Light: The Beast Trailers
The electrifying release date trailer, unveiled at Summer Game Fest 2025, dives deeper into the sinister antagonist, The Baron. This chilling figure is revealed as the tormentor who subjected Kyle Crane to 13 years of brutal experimentation.
Crane’s powerful voiceover resonates with raw emotion, declaring, “He will pay for what he did to me. All the years he took from me, all the agony he put me through.” This declaration, coupled with scenes of Crane brutally dispatching The Baron’s monstrous creations, underscores his burning desire for revenge – a quest we’ll be intimately involved in.
Prior to this, Techland released an announcement trailer that immediately established the game’s eerie forest atmosphere. It depicted armed soldiers cautiously moving through a desolate building, stumbling upon grim discoveries, all while an unseen menace stalked them from the shadows.
Set in the desolate region of Castor Rock, The Beast reintroduces Kyle Crane, now a seasoned survivor who, despite years of horrific experiments, is back to his signature acrobatics and zombie-bashing prowess. The trailer vividly showcases the parkour mechanics within this remote setting, with Kyle effortlessly navigating crumbling structures, traversing train tracks, and driving through abandoned facilities.
Crucially, the new dark forest and swamp biomes are central to restoring the series’ signature horror. These environments were meticulously designed to evoke a sense of terror. The iconic day-night cycle remains a core element, as game director Tymon Smektała notes: “That’s something that scares a lot of people, being alone in the woods at night, and this is something you can actually experience as you play.” While daytime offers a measure of safety, nightfall unleashes lurking beasts. Smektała explains, “You use a flashlight and there are lots of shadows, and it’s not that easy to understand what those shadows are. Is it a monster or is it just a shadow?”
Dying Light: The Beast Story
The narrative of Dying Light: The Beast unfolds 13 years after the original Dying Light, revealing a dark chapter where Kyle Crane was captured and subjected to horrific experiments by a shadowy new antagonist. Now, our hero is driven by an intense desire for revenge.
This standalone adventure is designed to fill crucial narrative gaps left by Dying Light 2, offering answers to long-standing questions. Smektała highlights that Crane’s experiences have given him a fresh perspective on the world, making this an ideal entry point for new players to immerse themselves in the Dying Light universe.
While trailers have offered tantalizing glimpses of the enigmatic foe, The Baron, his full visage remains concealed. This deliberate choice, as explained by Smektała, ensures that “players will discover more about him and his family as they play the game, but I think he’s the biggest threat Kyle has ever faced.” He adds, “we don’t really want to reveal him fully. We just want to show some of the actions that he’s doing and some of the things he surrounds himself with, but we don’t really want to showcase him 100 percent and make everything about him obvious.”
Dying Light: The Beast Gameplay
Dying Light: The Beast heavily emphasizes survival elements. Techland previously highlighted that while weapons are available, they aren’t a guaranteed solution to every problem. “Weapons have durability, so you’ll need to use them wisely, and firearm ammunition is scarce,” a representative explained. “Even with vehicles, you can smash the zombies and that’s fun, but, on the other hand, the vehicle can get damaged.”
A thrilling new mechanic born from Crane’s brutal experiments allows him to transform into a monstrous entity, unleashing a new skill tree of beastly abilities. The popular four-player co-op mode also makes its return, along with the iconic day-night cycle, which intensifies the survival aspect as players must constantly monitor the time.
Our hands-on experience with Dying Light: The Beast at Summer Game Fest 2025 left us thoroughly impressed. In his preview, Jamie Hore noted, “the increased prevalence of vehicles and firearms versus Dying Light 2 may end up detracting a little from the core parkour-and-melee experience, but Techland hasn’t neglected the defining hallmarks of the series.”
Game director Tymon Smektała clarified that “Dying Light: The Beast is much more zombie-centric. Of course, there are survivors and groups you interact with, but they’re a lot smaller in scale; they’re much less present in the open world.”
That concludes our deep dive into Dying Light: The Beast. As you prepare for this harrowing adventure, consider exploring other exciting upcoming games this year, or perhaps delve into the best survival games for more thrilling experiences. You might even revisit Harran in the original Dying Light to refresh your memory on Crane’s initial journey.