Battle Royale Standalone Dying Light: Bad Blood hitting Steam in September

Techland’s standalone battle royale spin-off Dying Light: Bad Blood is launching soon on Steam Early Access, this September. Early birds who jump in during the early access phase will be able to purchase the game for only $19.99 and receive bonus in-game content.

Dying Light has been making news the plenty of time this year already but that was for an actual “proper” sequel in Dying Light 2. Fans of the 2015 original surprise success have been waiting eagerly for a second entry into the open-world parkour zombie game. You can check out our coverage of Dying Light 2 where we highlight the sequel’s ambitions of crafting a deeper RPG system and improving the narrative aspect of the game by bringing legendary RPG game designer Chris Avellone on board.

But Dying Light: Bad Blood has pretty little to do with that game. Instead, Bad Blood was originally teased last year by developer Techland as a standalone expansion for the original Dying Light. In contrast to the game’s other big expansion The Following, Bad Blood was always meant as a multiplayer-focused new content, heavily inspired by battle royale games ala Playerunknown’s Battleground.

With the focus firmly on Dying Light 2 since its announcement at E3 this year and after a long period of radio-silence, we wouldn’t have been surprised if the multiplayer expansion had been canned or moved to the new game. But today, we learn new details about Dying Light: Bad Blood.

Indeed, Bad Blood is still alive and is shaping up to become its own thing, rather than a glorified expansion. The battle royale game pits up to 12 players into a match of brutal survival. A rather paltry figure when compared to other games in the genre but it’s not the size that matters after all but what you do with it.

And Bad Blood is aiming exactly for that. Instead of populating a large map with dozens upon dozens of players, whose majority won’t see half of the match, Bad Blood is mixing up the formula with a healthy dose of PvE gameplay. Besides trying to become the last man standing, players will have to actively hunt for zombies and destroy their hives to collect DNA samples to level up. Of course, you can also stalk other players for their samples. Coupled with the satisfying parkour movement and melee combat Dying Light is now famous for, Bad Blood is promising a unique and more intimate battle royale experience.

So, it’s nice to know that Dying Light: Bad Blood is launching for PC on Steam Early Access this September, for a sweet budget price of only $19.99. The offer is only valid during the Early Access period, so interested players shouldn’t wait for too long. If you want to play even earlier, head on to the website of the game where you can sign up for an early playtest this August. Console versions for the PS4 and Xbox One are planned but will arrive at a later date.