“We just wanted to give back to the community,” Smektała mentioned. “Give those guys who supported us and gave us confidence something so they could feel the love and the energy from us.”
Techland continued to replace the unique “Dying Light” for six and a half years after its launch. In preparation for the sequel, “Dying Light 2,” which launched on Feb. 4, the studio already introduced a five-year promise so as to add to the new sport’s zombie bashing and parkour.
The first time round, Techland didn’t plan to maintain publishing common updates. But, by doing so, the studio steadily grew the sport’s fan base; Techland offered more copies of “Dying Light” in its fifth 12 months than in its fourth, Smektała mentioned. To date, the sport has offered more than 18 million copies. Now, they’re making an attempt to recreate the unique’s business success.
“If we add new content to the game and if we add it in the way we did it with the first game … we are able to keep the sales steady for a very long period of time,” Smektała mentioned. “We just see that, if we do that, then you can find new customers and broaden the base of customers, of community.”
Techland’s five-year street map is yet one more iteration of the gaming business’s live-service mannequin — wherein builders promise to construct on video games for years after the titles releases. The updates hold the wheel turning, Smektała mentioned. Fans come again to play and, in flip, invite their pals to affix them.
It’s been more than a month since “Dying Light 2” first launched. Smektała mentioned Techland have been gathering suggestions from followers — what he calls “a trove of treasure” — for the event crew to determine the place to take the sport subsequent. The studio has already launched a patch to the sequel that can, amongst different issues, dial up the brutality within the sport. The replace makes it more seemingly that, for instance, when swinging a weapon, a participant may chop a limb clear off the zombie they’re combating. It’s precisely the sort of factor gamers have been asking for, Smektała mentioned.
“It was just a matter of increasing the probability,” Smektała mentioned. “So, this was simple.”
The five-year plan by Techland consists of a promised assortment of new weapons, enemies, occasions and paid storylines. But the particulars are solely mapped out by June of this 12 months. Smektała mentioned the studio needs to check out a wide selection of updates within the first 12 months to see what gamers do or don’t prefer to play. From there, Smektała mentioned, they’ll use the info to tell learn how to additional evolve the sport.
“We know where we want the game to be in those five years,” Smektała mentioned. “But, of course, in those later years we still have free slots for things we are sure we’ll develop along the way.”
The greatest problem proper now could be discovering the room for all of the content material the studio is planning so as to add, Smektała mentioned. In January, Techland boasted on Twitter that it will take gamers roughly 500 hours to perform each job within the sport. (They later clarified the storyline will solely take 20 hours to finish.) Smektała in contrast including the new updates to pouring Coke in a glass that’s already near full; pour an excessive amount of and the soda will find yourself on the desk.
“The thing is that, the memory limits for the number of objects we can have in our world are already almost full,” Smektała mentioned. “But, on the other hand, we can also do more optimization right now. So, this is also easier.”
When requested why Techland determined to vow the studio will help “Dying Light for the next five years,” Smektała mentioned the crew needed to point out potential followers they’re critical about supporting the sport. He is aware of you’ll be able to’t take again a promise like this — particularly with how the Internet is these days. Their solely possibility is to make good.
“This is not just one date that we go on,” Smektała mentioned. “It’s like a marriage for us.”