It had been widely assumed for a while now, but developer Techland has confirmed that the upcoming Dying Light 2 will be a cross-generation release, landing on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, as well as Sony and Microsoft’s impending next-generation hardware.
Games that release towards the end of a console generation often get pushed on the next-generation, with titles like The Last of Us, Watch Dogs, and Black Ops 3 bridging the gap between old and new, so it’s not that surprising to learn that Dying Light 2 will be doing the same.
In fact, in a new interview with WCCFTech, Techland’s Chief Technology Officer Pawel Rohleder confirmed that it’s been the plan since the beginning to make the upcoming zombie/parkour sequel a cross generation title.
Rohleder explained:
Techland always has an eye on the latest new toys! To be more specific – yes, the plan since the beginning of production has been to make Dying Light 2 a cross-generation title.
This, I’m fairly certain, makes Dying Light 2 the first game to be confirmed to get a cross-generation release. Rumours have suggested that Call of Duty 2020 will do the same, and CD Projekt RED has certainly hinted that Cyberpunk 2077 will be on next-gen hardware as well as current consoles, but Dying Light 2 marks the first official confirmation.
Rohleder refused to get into specifics regarding exactly how different Dying Light 2 on next-gen consoles would be, sadly. In fact, he wouldn’t even speak about what upgrades the game will feature on the more powerful PS4 Pro and Xbox One X, outside of confirming a 1080p target.
He said:
For Xbox One X and PS4 Pro, we want to run at full HD (1920×1080). It’s too early to specify exclusive features for more powerful consoles, but our top priority is a smooth gameplay experience (parkour, combat, etc.).
Dying Light 2 doesn’t have a specific release date just yet, but we know that Techland is aiming for a Spring 2020 release for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC, to join the throng of AAA releases already vying for your time and money in the first half of next year.
Anyone would think a new console generation was coming, right?
We know the Xbox Scarlett won’t be landing until Holiday 2020, and the PS5 will presumably arrive around the same time, so I’d imagine we can expect the next-gen Dying Light 2 sometime around then – maybe even as a launch title for the next-gen consoles.
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Ewan Moore is a journalist at UNILAD Gaming who still quite hasn’t gotten out of his mid 00’s emo phase. After graduating from the University of Portsmouth in 2015 with a BA in Journalism & Media Studies (thanks for asking), he went on to do some freelance words for various places, including Kotaku, Den of Geek, and TheSixthAxis, before landing a full time gig at UNILAD in 2016.