Dying Light developer and publisher Techland SA is a subsidiary of Chinese tech conglomerate Tencent Holdings and new details on the acquisition of the company are being reported on, including details on Dying Light 3 and the future of Dying Light 2.
Techland has become a major player in the always-popular zombie apocalypse genre thanks to the Dead Island and Dying Light series. The studio’s latest game, Dying Light 2: Stay Human, released in 2022 to a decent, but sold very well. Tencent is a Chinese multinational with both majority and minority stakes in dozens of developers and publishers around the globe, and expanded its portfoilo by scooping up Techland.
The deal with Tencent was inked in July 2023, but the exact financial terms were not known until now. Tencent Holdings reportedly acquired a majority stake in Techland for over $1.5 billion, with the company seemingly choosing to immediately prioritize the introduction of new live-service elements to the game. Details on the acquisition were reported by Bankier.pl.
Techland is looking to keep Dying Light 2 flush with new content through 2028
Dying Light 2’s post-release content roadmap is set for the next five years at least.
While the game received a paid story DLC entitled Bloody Ties in 2022, the game has also received regular free content drops including missions, weapons, events, and crossovers. This was a precedent set by the previous game in the franchise, which was supported until Dying Light 2 was released. This likely means that fans won’t be getting a Dying Light 3 for some time.
Techland’s next game after Dying Light 2 is actually an open-world fantasy epic, which was revealed in May 2022 via the studio’s official blog. While there have been clues and hints regarding the brand new IP in the months since, including official tweets and job listings, nothing else is known about the game at this time.
Will there be a Dying Light 3?
There have been no formal announcements with regards to Dying Light 3, though it’s unlikely that one will come out any time soon.
Dying Light franchise director Tymon Smektala referenced a sequel on Twitter, polling followers regarding a potential protagonist’s background. Though he also prefaced the poll with a clear disclaimer that it was not an announcement of a sequel, it naturally piqued the interest of fans.
Techland’s Founder CEO Pawel Marchewka asserted that the developer maintains absolute control of IPs, creative license, and operations despite the acquisition by Tencent. This is likely fine with Tencent to some degree, as the conglomerate has traditionally preferred the introduction of long-running live-service games like League of Legends and Pokemon Unite.
Both Techland and Tencent would likely prefer to have players coming into Dying Light 2, and spending money, for years to come. With the company saying that it has five years of content planned for the game, that likely means that Dying Light 3 won’t be coming out any time soon.