Dying Light The Beast release date, gameplay, and news

When is the Dying Light The Beast release date? The newest standalone Dying Light game, now called Dying Light The Beast, originally started out as Dying Light 2 DLC. However, once original protagonist Kyle Crane was brought back and the concept and scale of the expansion grew, Dying Light The Beast spun into a brand-new project.

Dying Light The Beast brings back the horror of Dying Light with terrifying new environments, ties the story in with the first two FPS games, and gives players an introduction to the future of the series. Here's everything we know about the Dying Light The Beast release date window and the zombie game itself so far.

The Dying Light The Beast release date is set for August 22, 2025, as revealed during Summer Game Fest this year. The new adventure arrives on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series.

In some additional good news for Dying Light 2 Ultimate Edition owners, Dying Light The Beast is free to those that own it, as it was planned as DLC. This edition is no longer available for purchase, so congratulations if you already own it. If not, you'll have to pay separately for The Beast when it arrives.

Dying Light The Beast trailers

The release date trailer, which debuted at Summer Game Fest 2025, tells us more about the villainous The Baron, the very same person who has been torturing and experimenting on protagonist Kyle Crane for 13 years.

A powerful voiceover from Crane adds emotional depth as he yells, "[he] will pay for what he did to me. All the years he took from me, all the agony he put me through." Alongside the brutal slaughtering of The Baron's creations, this threat goes to show just how much Crane wants revenge, and we're going to see a lot of grit and gore as we help him get it.

Before then, Techland released an announcement trailer for the game showcasing the game's spooky forest vibes, as armed soldiers move through an abandoned building, discovering dead bodies, all while being watched by something sinister lurking in the shadows.

The Beast is set in a region known as Castor Rock and includes a familiar face, Kyle Crane, who, after going through years of experiments, is back to leaping across buildings and bashing zombies. The trailer also gives us a glimpse of what parkour in this remote environment looks like, as Kyle swings between derelict buildings, across a train track, and drives through a rundown facility.

It's the dark forest and new swamp biomes that are an important factor in returning to the horror of Dying Light, though, as these biomes were created for terror. The day and night contrast has always been a crucial aspect of the series, and, as Smektała reflects, "that's something that scares a lot of people, being alone in the woods at night, and this is something you can actually experience as you play". While you might have power during the day, nightfall brings a threat of beasts lurking in the dark. Smektala tells us: "You use a flashlight and there are lots of shadows, and it's not that easy to understand what those shadows are. Is it a monster or is it just a shadow?"

Dying Light The Beast story

It has been confirmed that the Dying Light The Beast story takes place 13 years after the end of Dying Light. Kyle Crane was captured and experimented on by a mysterious new antagonist between the events of the first and second game. Now, our hero is understandably out for revenge.

The Beast aims to bridge the narrative gap between the two games, answering quests Dying Light 2 intentionally avoided. Smektala notes that Crane is experiencing life after being captured and is now seeing the world from a different perspective, which suits new players who will also be seeing the Dying Light world for the first time.

The new trailer gives us a subtle glimpse of the enemy, The Baron, though we still haven't even seen his full face yet. This is fully intentional, as Smektała tells us, "players will discover more about him and his family as they play the game, but I think he's the biggest threat Kyle has ever faced." He continues, "we don't really want to reveal him fully. We just want to show some of the actions that he's doing and some of the things he surrounds himself with, but we don't really want to showcase him 100 percent and make everything about him obvious."

Dying Light The Beast gameplay

The gameplay looks to lean into survival game elements, with Techland saying in an interview with PCGamesN "You can get a weapon, but it isn't a guaranteed success that you'll solve every problem with. Weapons have durability, so you'll need to use them wisely, and firearm ammunition is scarce; even with vehicles, you can smash the zombies and that's fun, but, on the other hand, the vehicle can get damaged."

Thanks to those experiments, Crane can now turn into a monster himself and kill enemies with a new skill tree of beastly abilities. Four-player co-op is also returning in The Beast, as well as the day-night cycle that will no doubt lean further into the survival nature of the game, as we'll need to keep an eye on the time of the day.

That's all we have for the Dying Light The Beast release date so far. If you're excited for the upcoming game, there are plenty of other survival games you can try in the interim. You could always return to Harran in the original Dying Light and reacquaint yourself with Crane and his story so far.