Dying Light: The Beast has been delayed to the beginning of 2025's Autumn season — Which is possibly the worst timing ever, as it will clash with Borderlands 4

Promotional screenshot of the player fighting zombies in Dying Light: The Beast
Who is the bigger beast? The Undead or the living? (Image credit: Techland)

For those looking forward to playing as Kyle Crane again in Dying LIght: The Beast, I'm sorry, but I've got bad news.

Techland has announced today on the official Dying Light: The Beast website that it will be delaying the game to September 19, 2025, which is four weeks after its previous release date of August 22, 2025.

This new release date will apply to all platforms the game will launch on, including Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, and PC via Steam.

Techland hasn't made this decision lightly, however, as it explains that the extra development time will allow the team to polish the game so it can be in its best shape at launch day.

"It has always been our goal to make Dying Light: The Beast the best Dying Light game we’ve ever released. To honor this promise, we’ve made the decision to move the release date to September 19, 2025 to allow for extra polishing work.

"We understand that this may be disappointing, but our experience has shown how important the first impression is. With just four additional weeks, we can address final details that make all the difference between good and great. Areas we want to improve include finetuning the balance of gameplay elements, looking into clarity of UI, increasing the quality of physics, as well as tweaking cutscenes and player animations further as well as adding last little details."

Dying Light: The Beast — Gameplay Premiere Trailer | Summer Game Fest 2025 - YouTube Dying Light: The Beast — Gameplay Premiere Trailer | Summer Game Fest 2025 - YouTube
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Dying Light: The Beast is the latest installment of the zombie-apocalypse, survival-horror series, Dying Light. This game was originally designed as a DLC expansion to Dying Light 2, but it gradually evolved into a standalone title where players will reunite with Kyle Crane.

Kyle Crane is the protagonist of the original Dying Light (which is still being updated even after 10 years), who was captured and experimented on by the Baron.

After years of torture, Kyle manages to break free of his imprisonment and embarks on a revenge quest to murder the Baron for what he has done. However, Kyle will need to be careful, as he has been injected with zombie DNA that will slowly transform him into a monster should he succumb to his inner beast.

Dying Light: The Beast — MEET THE BARON - THE GAME AWARDS 2024 TRAILER - YouTube Dying Light: The Beast — MEET THE BARON - THE GAME AWARDS 2024 TRAILER - YouTube
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Dying Light: The Beast will take players on a dangerous journey through the Caster Woods valley to help Kyle exact his revenge. Along the way, players will utilize parkour skills to traverse precarious environments, scavenge for weapons and medical supplies, and fight off hordes of undead monsters standing in their way.

The game can be played solo or 4-player online co-op as Kyle Crane forges alliances with the survivors of Caster Woods who can help him track down the Baron.

Fans have been begging to play as Kyle Crane again for years (as confirmed by the developers in our Dying Light: The Beast interview/preview) ever since he was absent in Dying Light 2.

Kyle captured fans' hearts with his tough-guy, no-nonsense attitude and stellar voice work by veteran voice actor, Roger Craig Smith (whose credits include Sonic the Hedgehog, Resident Evil's Chris Redfield, Assassin's Creed's Ezio, and many more).

Now players will get to dropkick zombie heads with Kyle Crane once more when Dying Light: The Beast releases on September 19, 2025.

Is delaying Dying Light: The Beast to the same time frame as Borderlands 4 the right call to make?

Dying Light: The Beast — Full 30 Minute Gameplay Walkthrough - YouTube Dying Light: The Beast — Full 30 Minute Gameplay Walkthrough - YouTube
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While delaying your games is a good thing, as it allows developers extra time to make it good and ready for launch day, there is a huge problem with the new release date Techland set for Dying Light: The Beast.

Dying Light: The Beast's new release date of September 19, 2025, just happens to be seven days after the release of Borderlands 4, one of the most highly anticipated upcoming Xbox games/upcoming PC games of 2025.

There's a dangerously high chance that if Borderlands 4 manages to wow gaming audiences upon release, it could derail Dying Light: The Beast's public reception at that game's launch and bury it in obscurity.

However, Dying Light has become a well-respected franchise in its own right with a library of high-quality titles and a highly devoted fan base that's helped keep the series alive for a decade.

With this in mind, will it help Dying Light: The Beast rise above the shadow of its competitors, like Borderlands 4, and become one of the best games of 2025? We will have to wait until September 19, 2025 to find out.

Dying Light: The Beast

Dying Light: The Beast

Break free of your shackles and exact revenge on the Baron for turning you into a monster in Dying Light: The Beast. Traverse a post-apocalyptic world using parkour skills, wield make-shift weapons to bash zombies' brains in, and work together in 4-player co-op for a better chance at survival.

Buy at: Xbox | Steam | CDKeys (Steam)

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Alexander Cope
Contributor — Gaming

Alexander Cope is a gaming veteran of 30-plus years, primarily covering PC and Xbox games here on Windows Central. Gaming since the 8-bit era, Alexander's expertise revolves around gaming guides and news, with a particular focus on Japanese titles from the likes of Elden Ring to Final Fantasy. Alexander is always on deck to help our readers conquer the industry's most difficult games — when he can pry himself away from Monster Hunter that is! 

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