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Dying Light 2 Dev Explains Key Departure, Promises 'Exciting' Update Soon
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The departure of Dying Light 2's writer, Paweł Selinger, left many fans concerned about the project's future, but developer Techland has issued a statement saying all is well and that more "exciting news" will be shared sometime soon. Concerns about the state of the long-awaited sequel aren't new. The first seeming sign of trouble bubbled to the top in early 2020 when Techland pushed the zombie title out of its 2020 launch window.
A few months thereafter, a report from a Polish publication suggested the game had long suffered through development hell. While Techland developers quickly debunked said claims, the firing of narrative designer Chris Avellone, due to sexual misconduct accusations, indicated the project may drift off course. Worries of this nature were further exacerbated by the recent departure of Techland writer and former art director, Paweł Selinger. Fortunately, the studio's latest update on the matter means to clear the air.
In a statement to Wccftech, Techland revealed that Selinger decided to exit the company in late 2020 but was not the game's creative director. Because he'd served in the position of Dying Light 2 Narrative Designer for two years, "[Selinger] left a large piece of himself with Dying Light 2." However, writer Piotr Szymanek took over Selinger's narrative-related responsibilities last October, Techland divulged. Furthermore, the art director position, previously held by Selinger, has been the responsibility of Eric Cochonneau since November 2019. The Poland-based company ended its reassuring message by once more promising that "exciting news about Dying Light 2" is coming soon.
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Techland's full message reads:
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"Paweł Selinger, who has been the narration designer for the last two years, decided at the end of 2020 to end his cooperation with Techland and to pursue his further career elsewhere. Paweł spent most of his professional life at Techland and he, among others, takes credit for the success of the series Call of Juarez. He left a large piece of himself with Dying Light 2, as he worked on the project from the very beginning. His duties, ie. the narrative department, were taken over by Piotr Szymanek in October 2020.
"We would like to reassure all fans of the upcoming Dying Light 2 that the position of art director is not threatened and has been held by Eric Cochonneau since November 2019. Eric has been taking care of every aspect of the upcoming production ever since and the team under his leadership is doing their best to offer players the best game possible. We will be sharing exciting news about Dying Light 2 soon!"
Whatever production issues may have stemmed from Selinger's late 2020 exit were seemingly handled preemptively by Techland. As such, if Dying Light 2 is in trouble like some fear, those issues are presumably divorced from the writer's departure. Based on the final line from the statement above, a clearer picture with regards to the project's status should come into view in the near future.
The last substantial details about Dying Light 2 made the rounds in 2019, roughly a year after its E3 2018 announcement. Thus far, it remains to be seen how much the first-person experience has changed since then. At the very least, Dying Light players have still received new content during this lengthy period of silence. Techland launched a new DLC for the original game last year, based on Hellraid - a project the team shelved a while ago, and a free Left 4 Dead 2 crossover went live in October 2020.
