Dying Light: The Beast Changes Plans for Legacy Consoles

It might not feel like it (especially since it makes us all feel old), but the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One are already 13 years old. To be completely honest, it actually amazes me how, despite being well into the lifecycle of their successors, some developers still make it a point to release their games on both previous-gen platforms.

Of course, reaching a larger community of players is always a smart business move and shows more care to a bigger audience, but it also implies that the game in question might not utilize the full power of the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S just to make sure it can run on older hardware – a classic technical dilemma that I imagine has made a lot of developers crack their heads over the years.

And now, this exact situation has happened to Techland, which is currently focused on developing two ports of Dying Light: The Beast, the latest entry in the beloved zombie franchise, which just underwent an important change in its platform lineup.

Shifting Focus to Current-Gen

In a recent social media announcement, the studio revealed that they have made the decision to cancel the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One versions of Dying Light: The Beast, despite previously confirming the game would launch on those systems.

According to their official statement, the choice was made to focus resources entirely on the current generation of consoles. Basically, what happened is that the game was originally built completely from scratch, since the dev team’s goal was to fully leverage everything the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series have to offer without being held back by any constraints. That way, it’s practically impossible to deliver the exact same elements on older consoles.

“After careful consideration, we have made the difficult decision that Dying Light: The Beast will no longer be released on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One,” Techland shared on X (formerly Twitter) this Tuesday. “[The game] was built from the ground up to take full advantage of current-generation hardware. Its open world, advanced visuals, and fluid combat and traversal all depend on processing power and memory that previous-generation consoles simply cannot provide.”

They went on to explain that this reality became increasingly obvious as the development of the ports progressed, since attempting to force the title onto older machines heavily compromised many of its core gameplay elements, meaning previous-gen players wouldn’t get to experience the same game. “[It] would prevent us from delivering the experience we set out to create,” the team added.

Techland also made it a point in the statement to emphasize that this decision wasn’t about abandoning their older playerbase, but rather about staying committed to the technical vision of the project: “This was not a matter of choosing to leave those platforms behind. Rather, it reflected the technical realities of development and our commitment to delivering the best possible experience.”

Last but not least, the developers apologized to the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One players who were eagerly looking forward to the title, guaranteeing that anyone who pre-ordered the game on those platforms will be eligible for a full refund. They didn’t go into specific details on how to claim it just yet, so if you happen to be one of the affected players, I’d highly recommend keeping a close eye on your digital storefront order history to see when your refund is processed.