Dying Light: The Beast interview — Chat with Franchise Director Tymon Smektała

Dying Light has quickly become a favorite series of mine. After reviewing Dying Light 2 Stay Human, it’s clear Techland has an understanding of not just a great zombie game, but making great gameplay. The technical achievements they’ve found along the way, the updates that have continually raised the bar, and the cadence of those releases have impressed. Now, the long-rumored “The Beast” game is in our sights with a Summer 2025 window, and I sat down digitally with Franchise Director Tymon Smektała to talk about how this DLC became a full game.

That, of course, leads perfectly into my first question. How did The Beast come about? I know it was initially DLC that grew into more?

Tymon offered some insight on this conundrum. Unfortunately, as they were working on The Beast, which was a narrative DLC for Dying Light 2, story leaks were found which exposed a lot of Techland’s work. What was uncovered was essential to the plot of The Beast, which placed Techland in a tough position. Do they try to brush it under the rug or respond to it? They decided to do the latter, because with a leak, the most dedicated players would be spoiled to the narrative behind The Beast, and they didn’t want to ruin that.

From this, a boot camp ensued, with the team taking ideas from the DLC and reworking it with a new character. They had to hold onto those plans at least for a moment, as their intended new character, Kyle Crane from the original Dying Light, was voiced by Roger Craig Smith and they wanted to make sure of his availability. He was surprised when asked, especially considering the rough straits Kyle was in from The Following, but the fan following caused Smith to have interest in returning.

Once he said yes, the team dove right back into reworking The Beast. Now that they had the true Kyle Crane on board, it provided a jolt of energy. Things they had already built in their game overview became fresh, as different members saw ways to expand upon the previously constructed environments, skill trees, and mechanics, along with a new narrative. Given it had turned into a full new game, Techland made the decision to turn The Beast into a standalone adventure, one that also required more team members to be brought on in order to complete it.

Kyle Crane seems to be the catalyst behind the change from DLC to standalone game, so I had to ask, what started the discussion to bring Kyle Crane back into the story?

The panic of the moment was also a part of it, Tymon confirmed. After the leak, as the team assembled in the office, everyone was pale-faced and sporting grim looks. It makes sense, as your next project was quite possibly in tatters from this issue. Even so, once they had a chance to talk it through, the choice of bringing Kyle Crane back was something that bolstered the hopes of the staff. Quite a few of the people behind the original game were still with Techland, so the nostalgia was strong behind his return.

With Kyle being the first character several of them ever worked on, several outspoken members of the team advocated the character’s homecoming. Ambassadors for the idea, like the art director, lead level designer, and even the CEO spoke up in defense of making the change. It wasn’t hard to convince everyone to be on board, although it was certainly done out of the tragedy of the moment rather than an organic decision.

Now that we’ve made it to the third game in the franchise, I was curious how this entry would evolve. The first game was about the survival aspect, the second was movement. What unique characteristics would Techland look to bring to this game?

Each of the Dying Light games are intended to be slightly different, Tymon responded. Players like what they like, but if you keep giving them the same game over and over, they’ll get bored quickly. Taking the gameplay formula behind the franchise, based around the three pillars of natural movement, melee-focused combat, and the day and night cycle which changes the rules of the game, and building something new on that foundation is what they’re going for.

The original game was about survival, with the sequel being more action-oriented. The Beast is doing exactly what the previous games did in terms of foundation, but leaning into horror this time around. That feeling of being in the woods at night, being hesitant to make the next step because you don’t know what might suddenly ambush you. Having Kyle Crane return at least gives you a hardcore character to fight against what lies in the shadows, so maybe it will curb some of your fears when you encounter the terrors of the Castor Woods (the setting for The Beast).

Choosing to go the horror route makes sense if you’ve watched the two game trailers. Even with the previous games being quite intense, The Beast seems incredibly brutal. I had to poise the question, what drives that?

Tymon didn’t think there was one simple answer to that question. The feeling you get is a combination of many things; the horror vibes, the work they did on the main antagonist (The Baron), and more. With The Beast, they didn’t want to do a game that’s too big, but instead be more compact and focused, which brings more out of their mechanics along with more detailed environments. The bigger worlds are great, but they spread thin the resources available. Castor Woods will still be varied and a decent size, but each team member is really getting a chance to pour themselves into this immersive experience.

Things like the impact of a weapon on a zombie, how the blood splatter works, all of those are of better quality because of this laser focus. Techland has also improved upon their engine as well, which in the smaller map brings better detail. This brings better immersion, which allows you to be consumed by the brutality all the more.

While Tymon already answered my question of if the Baron was the main antagonist in the previous question, I did want to learn more about him. Techland wanted to move into a new direction with their villains, and The Baron was born out of this desire. Where the previous two were more brutish, The Baron is calculated and emotionless. He was part of a noble family that has controlled the Castor Woods for generations.

As you explore, Tymon says we’ll find out more about The Baron’s back story, from their ties to big pharma (which explains the facilities and testing we see in The Baron’s reveal trailer from TGAs) to events that made him into the cruel yet brilliant character he is. Tymon wouldn’t give me much information on the grand plan The Baron has – we don’t want the story spoiled – but what he did reveal is intriguing.

Kyle’s reappearance has enabled The Baron to a degree. His blood, which is infected with the virus from Dying Light and the mysterious substance from the events of The Following, is important to what The Baron wants to do. His immunity causes The Baron to use him as a lab rat, experimenting on him over the last ten years. This leads into a revenge story from the get-go of Kyle’s escape, but as you play you’ll discover more harrowing intel in the Castor Woods which will usher in The Baron’s grand plan. In turn, it’ll be up to Kyle to stop it.

The word compact kept being used as we talked about The Beast. After crafting a game in Dying Light 2 Stay Human which was touted to contain 500+ hours of content, was it a relief to be focused on a smaller adventure like The Beast?

There was no questioning Tymon’s immediate reply, ABSOLUTELY. Techland felt like what they did with Dying Light 2 Stay Human caused them to miss a few areas, with developers not being able to express their passion as much because of the size. The production team was huge, and the game was so big they could only focus on making it happen. There was a bit of fun missing, and The Beast has allowed them to have more fun and take their time in crafting it passionately.

The level artists especially felt this change. It’s still a competent and varied open world, but Castor Woods isn’t as sprawling as Villedor. This allowed them to focus on every square inch of the map and pour their capabilities into The Beast.

To finish up our conversation, I wanted to know about the connections between the Dying Light games. Kyle Crane obviously is from the original, but what connections are we going to find between Dying Light 2? Are there any possibilities we’ll get a glimpse into what a third main entry might entail?

A funny moment followed as Tymon raised a handkerchief above his eyes, resulting in a few laughs between us. Of course, he can’t reveal much considering spoilers already derailed this DLC once. But, with this being worked on as a DLC in the first place for Dying Light 2 Stay Human, this is connected to that game and with Kyle in place, that allows for a connection to the first game. This adventure takes place before the events of the sequel, so it will answer some of the unanswered questions we may have from these entries.

It will also contain a sneak peek at the future of the franchise. Tymon’s specific answer was that The Beast will set the tone for what comes next. Another awesome tidbit from him was that The Beast will be a good entry point for players who are interested in the game but may have been hesitant to dive into the series. Between this, enticing players to play the first two games, and exciting players for the next game, this is exactly what you want to hear.

Sadly, this was the end of my conversation with Tymon, who was an incredible guest to engage with. Our thanks to Tymon and Techland for taking the time to speak with us about Dying Light: The Beast! Currently, The Beast will arrive in Summer 2025 on PS4 and PS5, Xbox One and Series consoles, and PC. If you purchased the Dying Light 2 Stay Human Ultimate Edition, you’ll receive The Beast free of charge, so prep that storage space!

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