How far into the future is Dying Light 2: Stay Human?

Vagabonds roaming the streets of the City (Image via Techland)
Vagabonds roaming the streets of the City (Image via Techland)

The original Dying Light and Dying Light 2: Stay Human are very much tied together, not just in terms of story but also on a timeline. Stay Human is, in fact, a sequel and is set in the same universe.

While both games are set in the same universe, a fair amount of time separates them. The first title is somewhere in the early 2010s, while Dying Light 2: Stay Human is around two decades into the future. And in that amount of time, humanity has been thrown into further turmoil.


In Dying Light 2: Stay Human, the City is one of humanity’s last living civilizations

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The events of the original Dying Light followed Kyle Crane on his path to taking out Kadir Suleiman and, ultimately, retrieving stolen documents for GRE. As the story unfolds, Kyle is infected and dies. Harran’s quarantine presumably failed.

Two decades later, a new strain of the Harran virus has gone global. By this point, humanity is incredibly weak. So weak that humans are nearing extinction and huddle into areas like the City. The new virus has turned the zombies into something worse.

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Lead game designer Tymon Smektala had this to say about the UV-hating zombies in the second episode of their Dying 2 Know video series:

“Our monsters used to be sick and suffering people who just didn’t manage to find UV light or any other cure in time. The virus causes them a lot of pain, and it makes them suffer. They are not driven by hatred but by instinct – their new nature.”

To make matters worse, there’s more of a reliance on melee weapons. Technology and firearms are increasingly challenging to find, and many factions fight over what’s left. It’s been described by the developers as the “modern dark ages”.

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And this plays out in the gameplay. You’ll have to rely heavily on crafting, which has been expanded upon, like adding upgrades via blueprints.

Players will get to see just how much the world has changed when Dying Light 2: Stay Human releases on February 4. It launches for the Xbox Series X and Series S, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and Microsoft Windows.

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