Dying Light: The Beast takes players away from the urban jungle of previous Dying Light titles and introduces them to Castor Woods, a once-bustling tourist town featuring factories, villas, a national park, and, of course, plenty of secrets—and plenty of zombies. Dying Light: The Beast's setting is something new for the series, offering unique parkour challenges as well as a variety of open-world biomes for players to explore. Into this sinister setting comes Kyle Crane, the mysterious aristocratic Baron, and a host of other survivors to encounter alongside the infected to battle.
The Best War Games spoke to members of Dying Light: The Beast's development team, including Dying Light franchise director Tymon Smektala, game director Nathan Lemaire, art director Katarzyna Tarnacka-Polito, and quest designer Kalina Sobierajska, about the new and returning characters of Dying Light: The Beast, its central story, horror elements, setting, and more. They discussed bringing back Kyle Crane as the protagonist, what other characters—both living and undead—players might encounter, the inspiration behind Castor Woods, and the many areas players can explore. The team also reviewed a few details about the sinister Baron and the types of enemies Kyle might be facing as he goes into "Beast Mode" in the upcoming Dying Light title. This transcript has been edited for clarity and brevity.
Kyle Crane, His Enemies, And His Allies
The Best War Games: I know you’ve been asked a lot about Kyle Crane, including throughout the development and release of Dying Light 2. What do you think has made Crane such an enduring force within the franchise?
Smektala: It is a tough question to answer, as at the launch of Dying Light, he wasn’t actually considered iconic, especially by the media. He’s built out of familiar elements—he’s a mercenary, a badass, a classic action movie hero—but we managed to give him a touch of humanity and down-to-earthness that’s rather unusual for such strong types. What I like about him personally is that he’s cold on the surface, very far from getting emotionally engaged in other people’s problems at first glance, yet he never says no to those in need, especially the ones who are oppressed and bullied.
The Best War Games: After Dying Light's Following expansion, has it always been the studio's desire to bring Crane back? What makes Dying Light: The Beast "the right time," so to speak, for his return?
Smektala: We knew that he'd return at some point. We just hurried our plans a little. Yet, in the end, it all made sense. Is there a better way to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Dying Light than to have the original Hero of Harran returning?
The Best War Games: The "Meet the Baron" trailer mentions that the Baron's character went through a lot of development and changes. Could you tell us more about that process? Generally speaking, how would you define the relationship between the Baron and Crane?
Sobierajska: I think there are two separate questions here. When it comes to creating a main antagonist, it always takes a lot of work. There's a theory that the protagonist and antagonist are two sides of the same coin. Their relationship is, and always will be, crucial to the narrative because they represent opposing forces. However, their desires might actually be quite similar. The difference is in the paths they choose to achieve them, and that's where the conflict arises. Crafting a good antagonist is always a challenge because, as I mentioned, they need to be designed specifically to complement the protagonist.
Now, about their relationship—that's a bit more complicated. Kyle is deeply motivated by his need for revenge. To be fair, revenge is always a tricky choice. While it can create dramatic tension right from the start, it also comes with consequences for the protagonist. Let’s face it - revenge is a universal theme, but if it’s not handled carefully, it can make the hero seem unsympathetic or even ruthless. That’s why it was important to add additional layers to the relationship between Baron and Kyle. These layers allow the player to see their connection in a more complex light and, in the end, question who the real "beast" in the story is. We can’t wait for our players to discover that as they play the game.
The Best War Games: Likewise, how would you describe the relationship between Crane and Olivia? What do both the Baron and Olivia bring out of Crane?
Sobierajska: Olivia, on the other hand, plays a different role in the story. On one level, she provides practical help, like information, which is typical for a sidekick character. But she also has her own story (which players will be able to uncover). That’s actually even more important, especially when you consider Kyle’s revenge-driven arc. If you don’t layer the story, it can feel flat or make the protagonist unlikable. By exploring themes like revenge and sorrow through different characters, you can create a more nuanced approach. In this context, Olivia becomes a kind of mirror for Kyle. Despite experiencing her own share of terrible events, she remains vulnerable and compassionate, showing that there’s more than one way to navigate this brutal post-apocalyptic reality.
The Best War Games: Other than Kyle, Olivia, and the Baron, what other characters will we meet in the game that you can tell us a little bit about?
Sobierajska: I don’t want to spoil too much, but there will be plenty of other characters - each trying to survive in this harsh world. What’s interesting is how different their approaches to survival are. Some see it as the ultimate goal and are willing to do anything to stay alive, while others take a different perspective. I think that’s valuable because it reflects the different archetypes and behaviors people might exhibit when faced with impossible choices.
Smektala: It’s generally a very strong point of the zombie genre, and one of the reasons for its long-lasting appeal - the genre brings a framework that everyone understands (the rules of the world, where the threat is coming from, how extreme the situation is), yet it’s so broad and flexible that it allows for creation of many character types, with different values, outlooks and stances of life.
Dying Light: The Beast's Linear Narrative Leans Into Horror
The Best War Games: Within the Dying Light franchise, we've seen more linear experiences, like with The Beast, but also more branching narratives like in Dying Light 2. Can you speak to the process of choosing which approach is best for any given game, and then why this linear experience is the best one for The Beast?
Smektala: We wanted Dying Light: The Beast to set the canon for the universe, solving some unresolved threads from previous games and setting the series for the future—that’s why we decided to go with a linear story, over which we have full control. This doesn’t mean we won’t do a branching storyline in the future, though if we do, I’m sure we’ll use everything that we’ve learned from Dying Light 2: Stay Human to make the choices more impactful, clear, and direct.
The Best War Games: It seems there’s a stronger focus on the zombies and less on “human politicking,” so to speak, in Dying Light: The Beast compared to Dying Light 2. Similarly, can you tell us about the state of the world, what this says about the state of the world, and also how you decide the best avenue for navigating humanity and zombies in a Dying Light game?
Smektala: We wanted to focus on the zombies, proving that we’re experts in the field, but the picture you paint is actually a little bit more complex. There’s human drama in Dying Light: The Beast—you need to have people to have any drama that’s recognizable and touching to human beings—but it’s all centered around the main antagonist, The Baron. That’s why there’s less politicking—it’s clear from the start who the bad guy is and why he needs to be taken down.
The Best War Games: A previous developer update mentioned how Dying Light: The Beast would answer burning questions related to the first two games. Can you talk about that process of identifying those questions, developing fun answers to them, but also, presumably, opening other doors for the franchise to explore beyond The Beast? What does that process look like?
Smektala: It’s very easy to identify these questions as these are exactly the same questions that you have to answer, squirming like an eel, at every possible opportunity, every meeting with the fans and every meeting with the media. I answered - or had to avoid answering - the question of “what’s the canon ending of The Following” probably a thousand times in my professional life. It had to end one day.
Now, trying to come up with answers to these questions - that’s much more difficult. Like most developers, we have our own internal documents which describe and chronicle the history and details of the world much deeper than what players see in games, so we “just” had to take that knowledge and beef it up with details, but the real fun (or horror!) Is to determine if these are the answers that will make our players happy.
We understand we are treading on thin ice here, as we’re playing with people's emotions and memories, connected, for example, to Kyle. Truth be told, this is the part of Dying Light: The Beast that makes me wake up at night full of doubts... Are we telling the right story? Will players like our vision of Kyle’s return? I’ve been a gamer long enough to remember the controversy of the Mass Effect 3 finale.
The Best War Games: Dying Light: The Beast also returns its focus to horror and surviving in tense, terrifying situations. Can you talk a little bit about the systems at play that make this possible and what it adds to the overall story and gameplay experience?
Lemaire: The main intention for Dying Light: The Beast is to make players experience the “survival” aspect of the franchise more. Crafting plays a big role, and scavenging for loot is as dangerous as it is useful to keep pushing. Melee weapons can break, and ammunition is scarce. Players can find vehicles in working conditions, but eventually they will run out of fuel, pushing them to prepare ahead and look for opportunities in old cars or gas stations. And, of course, the story is also leaning into themes related to surviving in this dangerous world, maintaining a community of humans seeking to do more than just survive.
The Best War Games: Overall, what would you say Dying Light fans should expect from this narrative? What do you think they should go in prepared for?
Sobierajska: That’s a tough question. I’d say players shouldn’t expect clear-cut answers about good and evil, heroes and villains. In extreme situations, people make choices they never thought they’d make under normal circumstances. I believe it was Aristotle who said we should be careful while judging someone's actions without fully understanding the external factors and circumstances that led to them.
Smektala: On top of that, I also like how weird we allowed ourselves to be in some of the side narratives and missions. Castor Woods is a special place, a beautiful valley, cut off from the world, and strange things have been happening here for decades. Even though the game takes place many years after an outbreak of a deadly virus that brought a zombie apocalypse to the whole world, there are lots of secrets to discover. The Kyle story is there, and it’s obviously the star of the show, but I think this is also a part of Dying Light DNA to deliver some left-field, out-of-the-box adventures on the side. Remember Gazi or Tolga & Fatin? The weirdness, the goofiness, the unexpected is still there!
Not Everyone Gets to Live in Dying Light: The Beast...
How Dying Light: The Beast's Art Reflects Its Story And Themes
The Best War Games: What was bringing back Kyle Crane after so long like for the art and animation teams? What new elements have been brought to these areas, and how has he been updated since his last appearance?
Smektala: It’s such a broad topic that it actually deserves its own talk at a game dev conference. First of all, how do you convey a character that’s mostly seen through a first-person perspective? We spent a lot of time looking at our old animations from the original Dying Light, adapting them to the new, high-fidelity reality of 2025, and carefully updating little moves here and there to convey the changed (older, more experienced, brutal) personality of Kyle. To help ourselves a little—but also to keep the spotlight on Kyle—we introduced a number of TPP cutscenes, where players can see him in full.
But this created another problem—or need—as we had to ensure we presented Kyle himself with more detail than ever before, also updating his look to reflect the years he spent in Baron’s captivity. The process of creating an older Kyle was actually quite fun as we sketched out hundreds of concept arts, trying to explore and find how far we could go with any changes still keeping Kyle strong, powerful and not “too daddy”. We had fat-belly Kyle, receding hairline Kyle, sometimes just for laughs, but all to find the perfect balance. Of course, these concept arts are kept locked in our vault, and no one will ever see them—Kyle is a hero, and no one needs to see him in oversized boxer shorts and stained tank top, right?
Another pass was meant to find the “monster” in him - we chose to communicate this part of his new personality by his tainted eye and a spiky bracer. We also wanted to find a connection between him and the “old Kyle”—and his watch and Jade’s bracelet are what we settled on.
The Best War Games: How did Dying Light: The Beast's themes of experimentation affect enemy design?
Smektala: They’re mostly seen in the Chimeras, and we went through a number of designs to find something we liked. At one point, they were walking tools of destruction, with actual weapons “merged” with their bodies. We had them presented as real victims of experimentation, still wearing torn lab coats. As always in the pre-production phase, the imagination was wild. Yet in the end, we decided to focus on something really scary—the body horror—and here the human anatomy books proved to be the most valuable inspiration.
The Best War Games: What other graphical and visual enhancements can fans expect to see in Dying Light: The Beast compared to the IP’s last outing?
Smektala: Dying Light: The Beast brings a number of technical advancements, mostly focused around the feeling of immersion, and lighting plays a very important part in that. We rewrote a huge part of our rendering code for lighting and added some missing features - e.g. Sun moving on the horizon. Combined with current-gen solutions for material rendering, it makes the world much more believable. Oh, and the weather system got an overhaul as well, as we now support more different weather states than before—wait till you see the foggy weather in the swamps.
Introducing The Sinister Setting Of Castor Woods
The Best War Games: When Dying Light: The Beast saw a direction shift towards being a larger release back in 2023, how did this affect the game’s setting and art direction, if at all? Was the Castor Woods setting always the plan?
Smektala: Not really. Even though the biggest thing we inherited from the previous project is the open world map, it completely changed, getting a completely new identity only after we decided to do The Beast. Previously, the map was smaller, less varied, and inspired mostly by Welsh plains, and even before that—in a super early version of the previous project—more of a swampy area with little “islands” connected by pools of water and goo.
As soon as we realized we were making a proper, fully-fledged game, and we needed a lot of space to hold the new narrative, we built a map that would be able to support that. We knew that we needed the map to be varied, as we wanted to make sure that The Beast will offer players a rich, constantly surprising experience. We knew that it needed to be placed in Central Europe, somewhere close to Switzerland, as this was required and dictated by our “behind the scenes” lore of the universe. We knew that we wanted the map to break our usual formula of a map placed in the city - but at the same time that since we’re going in that direction, we also need areas which support parkour 100%. Mixing that pot gave us Castor Woods, a beautiful touristy valley, full of beavers...and zombies.
The Best War Games: When exploring the idea of a forested tourist attraction left abandoned, where did the team look for inspiration? Were there any real examples of abandoned tourist destinations that the team drew upon for the Castor Woods?
Tarnacka-Polito: This type of landscape is very close to our hearts. Some of our artists come from similar charming towns located in the mountains, so we took inspiration from what we know and love.
Smektala: For narrative reasons, we knew that the game needed to take place in Switzerland or close to it, so the first inspiration was the Swiss Alps. Yet, as Kasa mentions, we have a number of environment artists who live in similar, mountainous, touristy towns in Poland, and they definitely sneaked some of the sights they grew up with here.
The Best War Games: Can you talk about giving each of the various regions within Castor Woods their own identity? How many different ‘biomes’ can players expect?
Tarnacka-Polito: In Dying Light: The Beast, we wanted to create a world that feels rich, alive, and is full of different places to explore. The map offers a wide range of environments - from a lively town to dense forests, steep hills, riverbanks, swamps, farmlands or old industrial parks. The town is built on sloping terrain, which makes it very different from the areas of Villedor in Dying Light 2: Stay Human. We wanted to make sure the environment feels dense and diverse.
The tourist town of Castor Woods. It was once a lively, busy place, surrounded by beautiful mountains, forests, and a stunning national park. People used to come here to relax, go skiing, and enjoy the nature. From the town, tourists could easily venture into the nearby national park. This vast, forested area is filled with scenic viewpoints and rock formations inspired by the - among others - real-world Table Mountains National Park in Poland. You’ll come across mountain lodges, picnic areas, and the park rangers’ headquarters. I highly recommend taking a moment to read the information boards you’ll come across - they offer a lot of insight you don’t want to miss.
The industrial park - several factories once operated here, providing jobs to the local community. Even though some were abandoned before the pandemic, buildings—silos, warehouses, and production halls —still stand. They offer fantastic opportunities for exploration and looting.
We also introduced a workers district—like many towns built around the turn of the 20th century near factories, worker housing was constructed nearby—simple residential blocks surrounded by playgrounds, grocery stores, and green spaces for recreation.
Another key area of Castor Woods is the farmlands, inspired by traditional European countryside. Here, residents produced and sold local specialties to visiting tourists. Although this area is now partially flooded, you can still see how carefully crafted each farmhouse and its surroundings are.
There is also the historic villa district with its unique architecture, where Castor Woods' wealthier residents lived. Players will find a few hotels and guesthouses there. Every home has a unique garden and small details that hint at who used to live there, which was a lot of fun to create.
The Best War Games: It’s been mentioned in prior interviews that the Castor Woods were partially inspired by the setting of Twin Peaks. How has this inspiration been reflected in-game, and how much surreal or mind-bending horror, as it relates, should fans expect?
Smektala: Of course, don’t expect surreal on the level of David Lynch. The man is a master of this type of storytelling, and as a huge fan of his filmography,y my heart was broken when I learned of his passing. Yet there are similarities—a desolate valley, surrounded by thick and dark forests, weird characters, and a lot of mysteries. There’s even an easter egg hidden in one of the collectables which refers to Twin Peaks directly, but again—don’t read too much into it. We’re a zombie fiction first and foremost, with a little surreal twist here and there, but mostly on the outskirts of the main narrative.
The Best War Games: Audio-wise, what have been the driving factors in the overarching philosophy, the soundtrack, and every crunchy noise in the world of Dying Light: The Beast?
Smektala: Olivier Deriviere. 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 in his talent and versatility is how different the sound design of Dying Light: The Beast is compared to Dying Light 2: Stay Human, which he also audio directed. Where that game was constantly soundtracked by adrenaline-inducing music worthy of the biggest Hollywood action blockbuster, The Beast is intimate, mindful, using music only when it’s needed and building atmosphere and immersion mostly through ambient sounds.
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Dying Light: The Beast
