Dying Light is ten years old, having first hit the scene in January 2015. However, it wouldn’t land on Nintendo Switch until October 2021, arriving on the hybrid console neatly bundled with its DLC for the Platinum Edition. It seems that horror fans can’t get enough of zombies or survival, as when the two meet, you tend to get something enjoyable, as evidenced by the success of Dying Light and fellow survival horror king Resident Evil.
Unsurprisingly, Dying Light’s popularity spurned a sequel, with Dying Light 2 Stay Human releasing in 2022 and a third game in the series, Dying Light: The Beast, due to launch later this year. With the series turning ten and yet another entry on the horizon, we just had to catch up with Dying Light’s franchise director, Tymon Smektala, to talk all things Dying Light.
We had much to ask Smektala, from what lessons the team has learned over the last decade to the challenges of bringing such games to the small screen, and we even addressed one of the elephants in the room – Dying Light 2’s lack of zombies and its combat, two points of contention within the community.
Buckle up, Dying Light fans, as we discuss the past and present of one the most popular zombie games.
Pocket Tactics: What have you learned over the last ten years? What is it that helps Dying Light stand out from the crowd?
Smektala: The last ten years have been an incredible journey for us, and we’ve learned a lot – both from our own experiences and from our community. Actually, I’d point to the community aspect as [to] where we’ve learned two of the most valuable lessons.
The first lesson is about player freedom – it really is everything. Whether it’s through parkour, combat, or decision-making in Dying Light 2: Stay Human, giving players the tools to shape their own experiences is what makes Dying Light so uniquely liberating.
The second lesson is that when you release a game that’s embraced by millions – [a] fun fact is that the Dying Light games were played by over 45 million players – it stops being just your game. You start sharing it with these amazing people who have decided to invest their time and emotions into the world, characters, and gameplay you’ve created. That’s why we believe so much in community-driven development.
What sets Dying Light apart from other zombie games is this seamless blend of movement, melee combat, and survival horror. Our first-person parkour system isn’t just a gimmick – it fundamentally changes how players interact with the world. Add to that our dynamic day-and-night cycle, where the infected go from a manageable threat to a terrifying force, and you get a game that feels truly alive. This balance between action, tension, and freedom has kept Dying Light unique over the years, and we are constantly learning how to make it better and better in our games.
The first Dying Light game has become a cult classic over the past decade, paving the way for many other games in the genre. Did you expect it to take off in the way that it did? Are there any standout moments or memories from the last ten years that you’d like to share?
I don’t think any of us could have predicted just how big Dying Light would become. We believed in the game, but seeing the community embrace it so passionately was truly special.
One of my favorite memories was when we saw players break the game in ways we never expected – like chaining together insane parkour moves or using weapon mods in ways we hadn’t anticipated. Another unforgettable moment was our April Fools’ Super Crane event, where we temporarily gave players ridiculous superpowers. It was so much fun that we had to bring back elements of it later due to player demand.
Oh, and did I mention the Easter Egg hunt? Our games are packed with hidden secrets, and checking online after release to see if players have uncovered them all is just as fun for us as it is for them. Watching players dig through every nook and cranny to find these surprises never gets old.
The support we’ve received over the years – from fan art to speedruns to community challenges – has been incredible. Dying Light isn’t just a game to many people; it’s an experience, and that’s what makes it so rewarding to continue building on this universe.
How do the constraints/limitations of the zombie survival genre encourage you to innovate?
Constraints force creativity. The zombie survival genre has been explored so many times that you have to find ways to make it feel fresh. For us, that meant focusing on movement and first-person melee combat as core pillars. Instead of just making another shooter, we created a first-person parkour survival game where verticality and traversal are just as important as fighting.
We also pushed the boundaries with our day-and-night system. In many zombie games, the threat level remains static, but in Dying Light, the world transforms after dark, making it a completely different experience. And with Dying Light: The Beast, we’re innovating again by introducing new enemy behaviors, weather effects that impact gameplay, and even evolving our combat to feel more brutal and grounded.
When the team ported Dying Light to Nintendo Switch, what were the biggest challenges to overcome?
Porting Dying Light to the Nintendo Switch was a massive technical challenge. The game was originally designed for high-end hardware, so bringing it to a handheld device required a complete rework of some systems.
One of the biggest hurdles was – obviously – optimizing the parkour and combat fluidity while maintaining a stable frame rate. We had to carefully adjust texture quality, lighting, and draw distances to keep the game looking great without sacrificing performance. Another challenge was refining the controls to make the game feel natural on Switch.
Despite the technical constraints, we were proud of what we achieved, and it showed us that Dying Light can work well on handheld platforms – something we’re keeping in mind for the future.
Some players are concerned that the focus shifted away from the zombies in Dying Light 2, with the game focusing more on the survivors. However, in a recent press release, you made it clear that your ‘recent major rebrand aims to establish the franchise as the ultimate zombie experience across all future projects.’ As such, do you intend to bring the zombies back to the forefront, or are you pushing forward with more of a focus on the human element of the apocalyptic setting?
Zombies have always been the heart of Dying Light, and we’re fully committed to bringing them back to the forefront. While Dying Light 2: Stay Human explored the human aspect of survival, Dying Light: The Beast is a return to the core survival horror experience – more intense, more terrifying, and with the infected as the central threat. We want to master the zombie archetype: how they move, how they behave, how they sound, and how they challenge the player.
Similarly, a lot of players found that the combat in Dying Light 2 wasn’t as fun compared to the original, but you’ve said that you intend to bring Dying Light: The Beast back to the series’ roots. How do you intend to do this?
I don’t think it’s fair to say that combat in Dying Light 2: Stay Human wasn’t as fun – it was just different, [and] more focused on action. But we heard the feedback loud and clear.
Combat in Dying Light: The Beast will be more difficult, brutal, physical, and – hopefully – more satisfying. We’ve improved weapon feedback, introduced more visceral finishing moves, and reworked enemy hit reactions to make every attack feel impactful.
We’re also bringing back the survival feel, making combat more desperate and intense rather than purely action-oriented. And, of course, like every Dying Light game, this one expands the arsenal players can wield – I’m sure everyone will appreciate a flamethrower in a zombie game, right?
Dying Light: The Beast takes the action back to franchise favorite Kyle Crane. For newcomers, how are you making sure players engage with him after ten years?
Kyle Crane is a legendary character in the Dying Light universe, but we’re making sure that Dying Light: The Beast is accessible to newcomers as well. The game introduces Crane in a way that allows new players to connect with him without needing to play the first game.
His journey is one of survival, transformation, and revenge – universal themes that anyone can relate to. What helps here is that he’s been out of the world, kept captive for 13 years, meaning he sees it with fresh eyes – just as a new player would.
Looking to the future, can we expect to see Dying Light: The Beast on Nintendo Switch 2?
We’re always looking into new opportunities for Dying Light across different platforms. While we have no plans to share, the idea of Dying Light: The Beast on a next-gen handheld device is certainly intriguing.
Will Dying Light: The Beast be compatible with PC handhelds?
It’s too early to announce anything, but we’ll do our best to ensure Dying Light: The Beast runs smoothly on PC handheld devices like the Steam Deck. Both Dying Light games work great on Steam Deck, and I can’t imagine why Dying Light: The Beast would be any different.
Boy, that’s a lot to unpack, huh? We can’t thank Smektala enough for his time, and we certainly can’t wait to see if Dying Light: The Beast does find a place on the Nintendo Switch 2. As long-time fans of the series, we can’t wait to see what the future holds, and we’re excited to see The Beast return to those survival horror roots with an abundance of zombies; this time, we can take them out with a flamethrower!
For more survival games and zombie action, check out our guides to the best horror games, indie horror games, and Resident Evil games.