Dying Light The Beast is launching even sooner than expected

Countless games are delayed these days. It happens to small indie developers and triple-A gargants alike. Whether you're Hollow Knight: Silksong or GTA 6, delays are practically inevitable in this industry. Dying Light The Beast developer Techland, however, is bucking the trend by announcing that it is moving the game's release date forwards, so you'll be able to get your hands on it sooner than you might think.

Techland says that the fact that a million players have pre-ordered Dying Light: The Beast inspired it to pull the release date closer by a single day. The developer wants to "push our boundaries and make the impossible possible," it says in a press release announcing the change.

As an added bonus, anyone who pre-orders the zombie game ahead of launch will receive an "exclusive new reward," although Techland is keeping the details under wraps until launch week. Presumably it's an in-game item rather than, say, a vat of zombie bile delivered to your home.

A one-day change to the game's release date may not seem like a lot, but it represents a big shift in the developer's attitudes. A lot of preparations will have to be redone, but it could prove particularly prudent.

Many people will remember Baldur's Gate 3 moving its PC launch forward by nearly a month, from August 31, 2023, to August 3, 2023, in order to avoid clashing with Bethesda's much-anticipated Starfield. We all know how that turned out, but BG3 developer Larian had the advantage of years of early access prior to launch, a luxury Techland does not have at its disposal.

Still, Dying Light fans will be eager to check out The Beast a day earlier than anticipated. Get your time off requests in now, because 999,999 others will be changing their annual leave dates as we speak. Speaking of which, let me email my editor real quick…

Dying Light The Beast will release on Thursday, September 18, at 9am PDT / 12pm EDT / 5pm BST / 6pm CEST. You can pre-order it here to get your hands on that exclusive envelope of zombie gunge or whatever it turns out to be.

If you're still ravenous for blood despite the day's difference in release date, check out some of the best horror games here, which will sate your appetite. Alternatively, get lost in an open-world game for the next week-or, should I say, six days.

What do you make of the date change? Time to get excited or just a publicity stunt to force writers like me to write articles like these? Let us know in our community Discord server, where staff and readers discuss all the latest gaming news.