Developer Techland's upcoming Dying Light 2 has remained an anticipated title, showing promising updates at industry events like E3. However, a new report claims that Dying Light 2 is experiencing development troubles, resulting in the numerous delays the game has suffered since its reveal, with the game reportedly being in "total disarray" as it stands.
The report comes from the polish site polskigamedev.pl, which received the information from a Dying Light 2 developer. According to the developer, the game has shifted focus back and forth between the story and game mechanics, leading to confusion over what Dying Light 2 "should be." The game reportedly lacks a vertical slice, a polished demo of a game developed early on to determine its direction and show consumers.
Many of the issues seem to stem from conflict between Head Writer Chris Avellone and Adrian Ciszewski, the game's creative director. Avellone wants to make a deep RPG experience, meanwhile, Ciszweski has continually interfered with the narrative process. However, Avellone played down any conflict in a statement, saying that he enjoyed working with Techland, and that the situation was just part of the creative process.
Crunch has also taken a toll on the studio, which has reportedly lost 50 people in the last year alone. Crunch is a regular issue in game development, with large studios like Naughty Dog and Rockstar suffering from crunch, though there has been some improvement in Rockstar's case.
However, most of the information comes from a single individual and should be taken with a grain of salt. Troubled development would explain Dying Light 2's delays, and the global pandemic has been detrimental to development studios industry-wide, so it does troubled development does stand to reason.
Dying Light 2 was one of the most anticipated games of this year before being indefinitely delayed. It has built off the popularity of the first game, which has received regular content updates during its five-year lifespan. Game development is no easy task, and one that is frequently misunderstood by players. One can hope that things are going smoother than what's been reported, but it certainly isn't out of the ordinary for a game to experience this sort of trouble.
Dying Light 2 is in development.
Source: polskigamedev.pl (via WCCFTech)
