Dying Light released all the way back in January 2015, bringing with it a breath of fresh air to the zombie, survival-horror genre of video games.
While comparisons were obviously drawn towards developer Techland's other successful Zombie franchise, Dead Island, the game introduced an aspect of 'parkour', which allowed the player to maneuver themselves around the map at a much faster pace. This made sense, as too many games of this type felt sluggish - the last thing the player expects when attempting to escape a horde of zombies is to have to awkwardly traverse around objects.
While the first game released to average success, receiving a 74/100 for the PlayStation 4 version on Metacritic , rumors have continued to flow since the sequel's first announcement back at E3 2018 . However, some recent news from members of the team may bring more doubt into the game's future release.
NEWS
In a recent post on his official LinkedIn page , Pawel Selinger, Dying Light 2 ’s Lead Writer, has confirmed that he has left Techland, and subsequently is no longer involved with the development of the sequel. In the post, Selinger thanked the company for allowing him to “ develop and fulfill myself”, and wished them luck on the development for Dying Light 2 .
You can check out Pawel Selinger's full post on LinkedIn below.
After over twenty-two years, I decided to end my cooperation with Techland. I would like to express my gratitude to the company that has allowed me to develop and fulfill myself for half of my life. Techland, I will always be rooting for you, as well as the great people I have met thanks to you. I wish you that Dying light 2 and subsequent projects will become world hits. Good bye and good luck!
This comes not long after a recent social media post on the official Dying Light Twitter page , which potentially hinted towards news surrounding the game coming in 2021.
Survivors, tonight we celebrate! Keep your heads up for 2021! pic.twitter.com/uBLBGy4AYn
WHAT THIS MEANS
This news can only come as a disappointment, especially to fans of the franchise who have waited eagerly on news to release surrounding the second installment of the Dying Light franchise.
Given the game has already undergone multiple delays within its development, it's likely that it will be hit with even more in the coming months. With a new Lead Writer needing to be employed, it brings a question of whether enough of Pawel Selinger's work is present to continue, or a complete re-write will be brought in for the game.
There's also potential that the game has been fully written, and Selinger has added as much to the story as he sees fit. With new games starting development all over the world every single day, the established writer may just feel his efforts are best focused on other projects for the time being.
One thing is for sure, fans of the franchise will hope that Dying Light 2 does not end up in the same mess that Dead Island 2 did. The E3 2014 trailer set that game a huge expectation to follow, and 6 years on, fans still have no more news surrounding the much-anticipated sequel.
XBOX Writer