Summary

• Dying Light: The Beast brings back original protagonist Kyle Crane, exploring his fate after the events of The Following expansion.
• Originally intended as DLC for Dying Light 2, The Beast has grown into a standalone story with 18-20 hours of gameplay.
• Owners of Dying Light 2 Ultimate Edition will receive The Beast for free, with new abilities and additional content included.

During Dying Light: The Beast, the latest entry in its zombie franchise. Dying Light: The Beast sees the return of the original Dying Light's protagonist, Kyle Crane, a former member of the United States Armed Forces who was hired and trained by the Global Relief Effort (GRE) to infiltrate the zombie-infested city of Harran. Crane was only mentioned by name in Dying Light 2, which told a different story following Aiden Caldwell, a member of an outcast group known as the Pilgrims who was on a mission to find his lost sister, Mia, instead.

Dying Light: The Beast was teased in a live-action trailer the day before Gamescom titled "The Beast is Coming."

[Warning: The following story contains spoilers for Dying Light and Dying Light: The Following.]

The last players saw of Kyle Crane was during Dying Light's story expansion, The Following, where he met a sentient Volatile called The Mother, who was tranquil in daytime and feral at night. The Mother used an airborne serum that very slowly began to transform Crane into what she is, and by the end of the expansion, players were presented with two options, to either help the Mother bring about "the coming of the God of the Sun" and ending the Harran virus by detonating a nuclear warhead at the cost of thousands of lives, or he can refuse the Mother and try to take the remaining serum in liquid form, stubbornly believing it to be a cure.

From here, there were two endings, one in which the screen went white and Harran was destroyed, and another, more sinister one where Crane seemed to escape Harran as a sentient Volatile as the sun was beginning to set. Seeing as there's no way in which Crane could have survived the former option, it's clear which ending Dying Light: The Beast has deemed to be canon, and Crane will be able to use some of his newer mutated abilities in the new adventure.

Dying Light: The Beast Will Be Free For Some Dying Light 2 Owners

It Was Originally Intended As DLC For The 2022 Title

While Dying Light: The Beast will be available as a standalone story with 18 to 20 hours of gameplay, an official press release from developers Techland confirmed that it was originally intended as a story DLC for Dying Light 2: Stay Human. After two years of work, however, its size and scope had changed so much that the studio opted to turn it into a standalone, self-contained experience.

However, as the Dying Light 2 community had been waiting patiently for the DLC in this time, Techland has confirmed that it will be offering Dying Light: The Beast at no extra cost to all owners of the Dying Light 2: Stay Human Ultimate Edition to show its appreciation. At launch, those who purchased the digital-only Ultimate Edition were promised the following:

• Dying Light 2: Stay Human base game
• Bloody Ties DLC
• Story DLC 2 - Now confirmed to be the standalone Dying Light: The Beast
• Legendary Outfit
• Legendary Paraglider
• Legendary renewable weapons
• Exclusive Weapon Charms
• 2 Hour Night XP Booster
• Crafting Items
• Digital Soundtrack
• Digital Artbook
• Digital Comic
• 2 Wallpapers

By 2024, players had received all of this content except the second DLC, which has now become Dying Light: The Beast.

For those who don't own Dying Light 2: Stay Human's Ultimate Edition, Dying Light: The Beast will be available on both PC and current-gen and last-gen PlayStation and Xbox consoles. Techland has confirmed it will reveal more details - including the release date - later this year, but players can wishlist the title now on Steam, Epic Games Store, Xbox, and PlayStation to stay up to date.

Sources: Dying Light/YouTube, Steam, Epic Games Store, Xbox, PlayStation