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I admire this team for constantly updating DL1, from it getting a current-gen update to now this, and supporting the original releases too.

Ten Years Later - Still Going Strong: Dying Light: Retouched Update Releasing June 26

Hey Survivors! Tymon here, your favorite Dying Light Franchise Director.

pilgrimoutpost.techlandgg.com

tl;dr

- Improved visual assets
- Improved lighting and PBR
- Increased draw distance
- Improved shadow quality
- New music tracks and ambient sound effects through out the game
- Level of changes vary by platform (i-e don't expect PS4/XBO to get all the same enhancements as PS5/Series)
- Free update for all consoles and PC except Switch.

Let's be clear: Enhancements, not Remaster!

Back in January, when we celebrated the 10th Anniversary of Dying Light, I announced that we are working on a new update for the original Dying Light. Ten years later and the game that started it all is still going strong! When I looked online the day after the video, my heart skipped a beat. Quite a few of you were expecting a full remaster of some sort.

So, let's set the record straight: the Retouched Update is about squeezing out even more from the Dying Light you already love. It's not a complete overhaul or remaster.

Even without the update, Dying Light still holds up pretty well - just imagine that it's 10 years old! But to truly explain what we've changed, I sat down with the brilliant minds who made it happen: Grzegorz Świstowski, our Technical Game Director, and Krzysztof Knefel, Lead 3D Artist:

"One of the best things about working with your own engine is that the people building it are just next door," explains Grzegorz Świstowski, our Technical Game Director. "Over the past couple of years, we've added a lot, customized a lot, and learned how to squeeze more from the tech we already have. One day, someone just started applying those learnings to some old assets - and it just clicked that we could do that across the whole game."

So we put some more people on it. We started increasing texture quality of surroundings and upscaling them to create a sharper, better look in the game. "It was a lot of manual work - but increasing the texture resolution or quality can have a huge impact on how the environment appears on screen," said Krzysztof Knefel. Just look at the comparison of these wooden wall panels!

We also made some smaller tweaks and changes to the code that have a big impact on details in Harran. "We've increased the maximum LOD (level of detail) range from 260% to 340% in the view distance menu in the game options. This means players who are running on modern and better systems can increase the distance of highly detailed assets being loaded into the game and balance increased GPU/CPU load on their own," explains Grzegorz Świstowski.

But one of the biggest differences will be visible on floors and cement walls. We're introducing a new 8K Ultra shadow quality and improved the lighting options of many surfaces and with these new shadows, a lot of surfaces that previously looked rather flat now really pop out and get depth!

The Sound of Harran

Beyond just how it looks, we wanted to dial up the very atmosphere of Harran. Sound and music is crucial for immersion, and we've gone all out to make it an experience. The maestro himself, Paweł Blaszczak, the original composer, came back to give the soundtrack a complete remaster. Get this: he even recreated that retro-tape sound by actually recording on tape! Talk about dedication. It's authentic, nostalgic, and absolutely fantastic.

We've woven in brand new tracks and ambient sounds throughout the game, deepening the mood and cranking up the tension as you explore. And we seriously juiced up the hit reaction audio in combat. Every swing, every crunch, every zombie takedown will sound more satisfying, more impactful. You'll feel those hits.

Explore Kyle Crane's origin story with this free update

The Dying Light: Retouched Update will be completely free for all Dying Light owners on PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S and will roll out on June 26, 2025. The level of changes may vary by platform.

With the update out before the release of Dying Light: The Beast it's the best time to jump right back into Kyle Crane's origin story if you haven't played Dying Light yet. And even if you have, it's worth heading back to Harran.

 

[Thick Thighs Save Lives]

Damn, the last time I played Dying Light was like 8 years or so ago. I never touched the expansion (The Following?) or all the other content they added later, so maybe it's time to revisit this game later this summer and play through all the DLC they released.

 

[adamsapple]

Damn, the last time I played Dying Light was like 8 years or so ago. I never touched the expansion (The Following?) or all the other content they added later, so maybe it's time to revisit this game later this summer and play through all the DLC they released.

Don't forget that they made The Following expansion free for owners of the original game as well.

I've also been meaning to check this out for a while and intended to replay it once before the next one comes out, since it's the same protagonist and a direct story continuation of the first game.

No better time.

 

[Gonzito]

This game needed a proper anti aliasing and they haven't added it apparently

It's very disappointing

 

[JPSLotus97T]

If they can do a Pro Boost for the PS5 Pro that turns 4k/30fps into 4k/60fps that would be much appreciated.

 

[ValiantInstance]

Damn, the last time I played Dying Light was like 8 years or so ago. I never touched the expansion (The Following?) or all the other content they added later, so maybe it's time to revisit this game later this summer and play through all the DLC they released.

Keep in mind the spinoff game is out in August and looks much more faithful to the original than 2 did.

 

[Skifi28]

I'm a little confused. I remember the game getting a patch to support the PS5, but I don't recall a native PS5 version. Did they release it later and I missed it? Are they releasing one now?

 

[adamsapple]

I'm a little confused. I remember the game getting a patch to support the PS5, but I don't recall a native PS5 version. Did they release it later and I missed it? Are they releasing one now?

They labeled it a "next gen patch", the Xbox version is "gen9 aware" in the file info, so it's one of those games that has bespoke benefits on current gen but without being a native version (eg the Ass Creed Odyssey, Origins, Mass Effect: Legendary)

 

[Skifi28]

They labeled it a "next gen patch", the Xbox version is "gen9 aware" in the file info, so it's one of those games that has bespoke benefits on current gen but without being a native version (eg the Ass Creed Odyssey, Origins, Mass Effect: Legendary)

That's what I remember. The wording is a little confusing I guess and it made it sounds like there's a separate PS5 version.

 

[Chuck Berry]

That's pretty fucking awesome. Dying Light 1 was one of my COVID Quarantine games and I loved every minute of it. The sequel not so much.

 

[Doczu]

So did they finally add a PS4 Pro setting? One of the bigger profile games thst didn't receive the update

 

[Codes 208]

I completely forgot they managed to get this game on the switch.

 

[adamsapple]

So did they finally add a PS4 Pro setting? One of the bigger profile games thst didn't receive the update

They did fix the uncappd FPS on the PS4 Pro. That's the version I played originally, it ran with an unlocked FPS with double buffer V-sync, any time it would drop from 60, it would hard lock to 30 and that's where it would stay most of the time unless you were directly staring at a ceiling. They made it a proper 30fps lock a few years back, so perceptibly it's a lot more 'smoother' and consistent now.

But it still runs at 1080p.

 

[Hollowpoint5557]

Yeah baby! Time for my bi-annual playthrough. Top 5 game for me of the PS4 generation.

 

[winjer]

I haven't played it in several years.
But a texture pack is not the kind of thing that would make me pick it up again.
It would be better if it implemented something like FSR4, PSSR and DLSS4, to improve anti-aliasing.
Still, it's nice to have a free update that improves things.

 

[Karim]

Unbelievable it's the prequel. This game is so much superior in ever aspects to the sequel outside the obvious more dated graphic tech. They give me the excuse to replay it again.

 

[Hemingwayoffbase]

If you like John Carpenter movies, you should play this game.

IYKYK

 

[The Cockatrice]

Replayed it again with a friend and did all achiuevements for both games. Good stuff tho the second game is a pos, while the first is a masterpiece.

 

[SkyHighTrees]

it´s currently 1440p on PS5, at 60fps, but the muhfucking fov is gay

 

[Skifi28]

the muhfucking fov is gay

 

[Hollowpoint5557]

it´s currently 1440p on PS5, at 60fps, but the muhfucking fov is gay

I too am not fond of my FOV slider having homosexual sex with other FOV sliders.

 

[Donald mac Ronald]

Anyone else remember that ps store bug? You bought the dlc and it gave you the main game instead. Then since you paid for the dlc they also had to give you the dlc as well.

Good times.

 

[Gambit2483]

Maybe they are waiting to announce a Switch 2 edition..?

 

[Antwix]

The game already looked fine. Hopefully this doesn't balloon the game in file size or affect performance too much.

 

[EN250]

Damn, the last time I played Dying Light was like 8 years or so ago. I never touched the expansion (The Following?) or all the other content they added later, so maybe it's time to revisit this game later this summer and play through all the DLC they released.

The Following is a nice "closure" to that game, I like how the DL: The Beast is tied to the ending of that expansion

 

[Rocinante618]

Incredibly based, thanks Techland. Love dying light, liked dying light 2.

Looks like I'm going to start another run of this game this weekend.

 

[PixelatedBeast]

Still one of the best zombie games ever made and the parkour system is second to none, except maybe Spiderman. The only other game that comes close is Mirrors Edge.

 

[j0hnnix]

Holy shit , completely free.

 

[Feel Like I'm On 42]

I wish they would've done a better job with Dying Light 2 on consoles. Looks nothing like the original gameplay trailer even after the ps5 pro update. On PC it looks great with rtgi though. Pro patch was really disappointing imo

 

[Dirk Benedict]

A noticeable and admirable improvement.

 

[Gitaroo]

hope this has full dualsense haptic feedback support on PC

 

[mitch1971]

Only 2 weeks ago I went back to this game to do the horde DLC with some random guy. Was fun.