Soon, fans will be able to dive into Dying Light: The Beast. Techland’s upcoming entry in its popular open-world parkour-based zombie series, Dying Light: The Beast picks up the narrative threads fans have been clamoring for since The Following DLC’s mind-blowing ending.
Game Rant recently spoke with franchise director Tymon Smektała about the next installment’s shifts regarding design and other elements, including its audio aspects. He described how composer Olivier Deriviere, who has worked extensively on music for games, tailored the score and sound direction to match the specific flavor and character of Dying Light: The Beast‘s new setting and how these will work once again to deliver the series’ trademark sense of tension.
Dying Light: The Beast Dev on How Its Soundscape is Different But Still Just as Effective as Dying Light 2’s
For the first two titles, the franchise placed fans in larger and semi-fortified cities inhabited by various groups of survivors, with the music reflecting the sense and scale of the locales. Dying Light 2: Stay Human‘s score was an effective combination of atmospheric John Carpenter-esque tracks that instilled an air of mystery and lurking danger during exploration. These were bolstered by sweeping and heart-pumping orchestral arrangements that matched the intense gameplay action and emotional beats of the story, but this is not the audio design fans should expect from the next entry.
Dying Light: The Beast’s New Castor Woods Location Required Its Own Identity
Dying Light: The Beast will see players investigate and survive in a more open and isolated region compared to either Harran or Villedor. As a former scenic tourist attraction, Dying Light: The Beast‘s Castor Woods is home to a diverse range of locations. Along with the main natural areas, the Woods are also home to wealthy estates, grand hotels, workers’ housing clusters, and industrial warehouses. Each of these sections has its own distinct look and vibe, and as such, they need proper soundscapes that provide the corresponding feel.
When asked about the driving factors behind striking the right balance of impact and tone for Dying Light: The Beast‘s audio, Smektala responded by praising the efforts of composer Olivier Deriviere. Deriviere is an industry veteran who, in addition to previously scoring Dying Light 2: Stay Human, has also composed for other notable games like South of Midnight, Life is Strange, and both A Plague Tale entries, among numerous others. As Smektala said,
“We are very happy we have him in our corner, as he’s a one-of-a-kind musician who understands video games better than anyone else. The biggest proof of his talent and versatility is how different the sound design of Dying Light: The Beast is compared to Dying Light 2: Stay Human. Where that game was constantly scored with adrenaline-inducing music worthy of the biggest Hollywood action blockbuster, The Beast is intimate and mindful, using music only when it’s needed and building atmosphere and immersion mostly through ambient sounds.”
Dying Light: The Beast will thus pivot from Dying Light 2: Stay Human‘s generally more bombastic approach to create a subtler game sound design for the new entry’s setting. Dying Light: The Beast‘s score will consist of more naturalistic audio that aligns appropriately with a more traditionally spooky locale. However, it will still contain familiar traces of the franchise’s identity as Techland and Deriviere seek to impart players with the specific sensations and emotions envisioned for Castor Woods—and the experience as a whole—through its soundscape.
Dying Light: The Beast
- Released
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September 19, 2025
- ESRB
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M For Mature 17+ // Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Language, Use of Drugs
- Multiplayer
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Online Co-Op
- Franchise
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Dying Light
- PC Release Date
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September 19, 2025
- Xbox Series X|S Release Date
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September 19, 2025
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