During each of the last two E3s, developer Techland has showcased stuff regarding Dying Light 2. The first year, there was a sliver of gameplay shown to myself and other media industry professionals behind closed doors. The same also happened in 2019 with a similar meeting room and theater presentation. However, despite the game’s noticeable progress, Dying Light 2 will no longer hit its initial projected launch date.
Fine-tuning
The delay was revealed by Techland in a tweet. “We were initially aiming for a Spring 2020 release with Dying Light 2,” the message reads, “but unfortunately we need more development time to fulfill our vision. We will have more details to share in the coming months, and will get back to you as soon as we have more information.” Alas, no new release date was provided. We don’t even know if it will still launch in 2020.
Hey Survivors!
Here's the Dying Light 2 Development Update. pic.twitter.com/CKMkAe2eD7— Dying Light (@DyingLightGame) January 20, 2020
After seeing what the team has been working on for two years in a row, I can personally vouch for the complexity and density in the world of Dying Light 2. The short demo introduced new parkour movesets, not to mention the layers that will make up this open-world experience. Through each demo, we were only really shown two different environments. But, when you’re building both street, building, and rooftop environments, there are plenty of variables to change each experience.
Other delays in the news
Dying Light 2 is only the latest casualty in the days of delays. Recently, we also saw the delay of numerous Square Enix IP in the works, including the new Marvel’s Avengers action title. Other highly-anticipated AAA titles delayed this year include Doom Eternal and Cyberpunk 2077. Most have noted that there was more time to polish, improve, and deliver the game that fans are anticipated.
However, in a time where the phrase “crunch” is sparingly thrown around by C-level execs, Cyberpunk 2077 developer CD Projekt RED has acknowledged that it will fall victim to this practice. It is not known, though, as to what future days of crunch will hold for them or any other developer.
