Dying Light: The Beast developer Techland shared key improvements they made to the series’ formula to make nights scarier. Read on to find out more about the upcoming title’s changes and enhancements to nights and enemies.
Dying Light: The Beast Shakes Up Series’ Formula
Significant Changes to Nights After Player Feedback
Dying Light: The Beast developer Techland made exciting new changes to the game leading up to its release, such as darker and more immersive nights and smarter enemies. According to an update on their Steam Community page, the devs assembled a "strike team" of programmers to incorporate feedback gathered from gamescom 2025 and influencers who played their previous build.
Firstly, nights are now darker to heighten the tense and nail-biting atmosphere further. Nighttime in Dying Light renders the in-game world dark and quiet, brimming with Infected (the game’s zombies) that are far stronger than those in daytime. Though not all areas will be dark or lit the same, as the devs are careful to keep the feel of each area’s experience distinct.
One example of this is the city where burning barrels would make it difficult to sneak past enemy Volatiles, which are a strong special type of Infected that only appear during the night. This contrasts with the unpredictable experience of wandering around the dark forest of the Nature Reserve.
Moreover, the night’s soundscape is now subtler so that players can better hear the nerve-wracking footsteps of Volatiles and Infected. Hearing these lets players discern how close the monsters are, which creates the feeling that players are "truly there," says the devs.
Once players are spotted, this tense atmosphere becomes frantic, as the characteristic scary sound, music, and the protagonist Kyle Crane’s heavy breathing swarm the player.
Smarter and More Unsettling Enemies
While nights are now darker and tenser in Dying Light, they only serve to elevate the monsters that hide and stalk beneath them. After incorporating feedback from players, Volatiles are smarter and even more terrifying, according to the devs.
"Another important decision was to refocus the night experience strictly on Volatiles, our apex predators - and this has driven all of the choices we have taken along the way," stated Techland. "We redesigned how Volatiles move, both alone and in coordinated packs, so they could hunt players more effectively across all areas of the map."
Volatiles now have a significantly overhauled movement system to chase players more effectively and efficiently. Animations, more moves, reacting to player behaviors such as flashlight flashing, and more additions and enhancements make up this new system. Volatiles are also more persistent in fighting players till their last drop of blood after changes were made to their conditions for retreating.
The devs improved their spawning technology so that players can constantly "feel their presence, no matter where [the Volatiles] are". These enemy monsters will spawn in more realistic areas after these adjustments, tailored with both vehicles and map environments in mind.
Moreover, enemies now sport an improved set of visuals and soundbites to make them more unsettling and unique. The Volatiles look bloodier in appearance and have more diverse variants. On the other hand, other enemy types like Biters and Virals now sound more "aggressively human" to emphasize their horrific transformation.
"Since the beginning of Dying Light, our goal has been to create the most immersive zombie apocalypse," stated Techland. "Through our work on the series, we’ve learned that achieving this requires mastering three key areas: visuals, sound design, and gameplay mechanics."
Dying Light: The Beast is set to release on September 18, 2025, on PC, Xbox Series X|S, and PS5. To stay up to date on the latest information on the game, check out our article below!
Sources:
Dying Light - Beauty by Day, Horror by Night | Steam Community Post
