Game Director of Dying Light: The Beast Explains Why Techland Refused to Use Unreal Engine 5
Diana Golenko
While half of the industry is switching en masse to Unreal Engine 5 — including CD Projekt RED — Techland remains loyal to its own technology. And according to Dying Light: The Beast game director Tymon Smektała, there are good reasons for that.
In an interview with Prima Games, Smektała explained why Dying Light: The Beast still runs on C-Engine — the studio’s in-house technology that evolved from the old Chrome Engine.
Our proprietary C-Engine is tailored specifically for what Dying Light needs, fast streaming of high-fidelity open worlds, dynamic day and night systems, detailed lighting. On top of that, we have our two core mechanics, physics-based first-person parkour and melee combat, nailed here. It is our secret weapon. Using our own tech gives us full control, we can tweak, change, or rebuild any system without waiting for external updates or licensing restrictions. For Dying Light’s DNA, C-Engine just fits better.
C-Engine has proven itself in practice: Dying Light: The Beast impressed players with its stability and high graphical fidelity, even on mid-range hardware. The developers emphasize that the secret to this success lies in early optimization and obsessive attention to detail.
Optimization is something we take great pride in – it’s part of the Techland culture. We want as many players as possible to experience our worlds, so we spend an enormous amount of time on optimization, starting early to make sure we’re ready for launch, at launch.
Amid a flood of major Unreal Engine 5 releases plagued by FPS drops and technical hiccups, Dying Light: The Beast stands out as an exception. And it seems Techland has no intention of changing its philosophy just to follow industry trends.
Dying Light: The Beast is available on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S. Recently, the zombie action game received another update improving gameplay. Our review is available here.
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