In April 2023, we decided to make the game available for free on the Epic Games Store. The interest generated exceeded our wildest expectations, and 15 million players claimed their own Ticket to Harran (the name of the beat). Maciej Jałowiec, our Senior Channel Marketing Manager, discusses these activities from a business perspective.

April 2023 was a special moment in the lifecycle of Dying Light 2 Stay Human. Ever since the game’s release we have been continuously improving the player experience and carefully listening to the community. In order to further support this approach, we lined up a few specific events that ultimately resulted in expanding our community and boosting our concurrent player numbers. So, how did we do it?

Welcoming Newcomers to Our Post-Apocalyptic World

Since the original release in 2015, Dying Light has managed to build a massive following of diehard fans. Still, some gamers never felt completely convinced to try out the game’s unique formula that combines a post-apocalyptic world of zombies with advanced parkour mechanics. To convince all of those who remained on the fence, we began the month with a bang and offered Dying Light for free on the Epic Games Store.

The free offering consisted of Dying Light: Enhanced Edition, containing the base game itself, The Following (a major story expansion), The Bozak Horde (an arena-centered add-on), and a selection of skins and weapons. Plenty of stuff to get any player started in the world of Dying Light properly!

Since Dying Light’s formula is rather unique, we realized not everyone will immediately get on board with the franchise. So, to make things a little bit easier for everyone, we prepared a few key activities for our newcomers:

1. We published an article on Epic Games Store news service recommending the best bits and pieces of content that players should check out. Keep in mind that aside from the content featured in the Enhanced Edition, we have also released over 30 various add-ons, ranging from simple skins to more complex pieces, such as crossovers with other video games, and Hellraid: a fully-fledged game mode that turns Dying Light into a dark medieval fantasy experience! No wonder it’s so easy to get lost in all the content we offer, which is why we prepared a handy guide so players could easily find their way around.
2. In order to help people transition from Dying Light: Enhanced Edition to Dying Light 2 Stay Human, we prepared a special bundle featuring the second game, as well as the Rais & Brecken Bundles: two DLCs featuring items inspired by characters from the first installment of the series. This way we could ensure our players formed a connection and felt like they were stepping into familiar territory when they tried their hand at Dying Light 2. To sweeten the deal, we also offered all of this content at a discount!
3. We invited new players to join TechlandGG (currently known as the Pilgrim Outpost), our loyalty program where they could instantly claim a welcome pack consisting of items ready to use in Dying Light 2 Stay Human. Information about this welcome pack was prominently displayed in both the onboarding article, as well as on the product page itself.
4. To make sure the giveaway stood out, we also prepared a bespoke key visual that was widely used across the Epic Games Store. At Techland, we strongly support the idea of refreshing store visuals to keep content new, exciting and relevant for our audiences.

Building Bridges between Dying Light Installments

The giveaway proved to be a resounding success, with over 15 million units claimed by players on the Epic Games Store, making it one of the biggest events in the game’s history, substantially expanding its playerbase.

We didn’t stop there, though! In the second half of the month we built upon the giveaway’s success by bringing out the Gut Feeling update in Dying Light 2 Stay Human. This was relevant to our giveaway newcomers in a couple of ways:

1. The focal point of the update was to improve the gore and physicality of the game, making it look a bit more like the first installment in the series. This was a long-awaited update anticipated by the community. By launching Gut Feeling right after the giveaway we wanted to please our core community, as well as appeal to new players who enjoyed the style of Dying Light: Enhanced Edition.
2. We introduced additional skins, this time inspired by Rahim, another key character from the first game, bringing home that sense of familiarity once again.
3. We also reintroduced Nightrunner and Post-Apo outfits, fan-favorite gear from previous in-game events, this time as paid content, so new players had a chance of experiencing more of the content our audience enjoys.

To make all of this more accessible than ever, and to make sure players notice our offering among all of the competitive releases of that time, Dying Light 2 Stay Human was available at 50% off on all platforms around that time. This means that even if players initially started playing Dying Light from the Epic Games Store giveaway, they could affordably continue their journey on consoles if they wished to do so.

The effect of all of those activities are clearly visible when you look at publicly available engagement numbers. Dying Light 2 Stay Human reached over 17,000 concurrent users on Steam – a peak comparable with what we achieved earlier during the game’s first anniversary in February. The increase coincides with Dying Light 2 Stay Human being close to the top of Steam’s bestsellers list, and is in line with what we are seeing across all platforms.

There’s still more to come. We are committed to delivering 5 years of support, and we fully intend on executing that plan. Successes such as the one above are the best sign we’re on the right track!