Techland announced that Dying Light: Bad Blood, the version of the zombie-fighting game that’s battle royale (dubbed “brutal royale”), will be available in September via Steam Early Access on the PC. After it exits Early Access, it will become free-to-play.
The fast-paced competitive multiplayer title blends player-versus-player (PvP) and player-versus-environment action with a nod to popular battle royale games like Fortnite and Player Unknown’s Battlegrounds — all within the Dying Light world. After the game exits Early Access, it will be available as a stand-alone free-to-play game.
Techland is demoing the game at the Gamescom gaming event this week in Germany. In 2015, Techland said Dying Light has sold more than 5 million units.
In Bad Blood, 12 players enter a city swarming with the “infested,” Dying Light’s term for zombies. Only one player survives. Players have to scavenge for weapons, destroy zombie hives to level up, and combine parkour mobility with brutal combat skills to outrun, outsmart, and outplay your opponents.
“We’ve always been keen to add more PvP multiplayer to Dying Light,” said executive producer Maciej Łączny in a statement. “We’ve read all of the messages from players on social media and forums, and multiplayer has been a hot topic. We’ve also seen how players have embraced Be the Zombie and that inspired us to expand on multiplayer. But we want to do it in the Dying Light way, where this world swarming with infected is just as much a threat as the other players.”
He added, “This is how Dying Light: Bad Blood came to life, a game based on these key principles: the freedom and fast pace of parkour movement, the constant threat of the Infected, and the creative brutality of melee combat. Combined they offer an all-new brutal royale experience. Now we encourage the community to help us fine-tune the game before its release.”
During the early access phase, Dying Light: Bad Blood will be playable by purchasing the Founder’s Pack, which not only grants access to the game before its final release but also includes in-game content available only to Founders. The $20 Founder’s Pack provides in-game currency and exclusive items, including the Founder’s Pass that will deliver 3 Legendary skins throughout the 3 months following the Early Access launch. After the Early Access is over, Bad Blood will be free-to-play.