Dying Light No Longer Releasing for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3

[Brittany Vincent]

Dying Light No Longer Releasing for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3

Techland has ceased development on Dying Light for previous generation platforms, but the game is still on track for newer hardware.

Dying Light, Techland's upcoming zombie-focused first-person shooter, will no longer be releasing on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. Although those versions had up to this point been in development concurrently with current generation forms, Techland stated on their Facebook page that they felt "older consoles just couldn't run the game and stay true to the core vision of Dying Light at the same time."

After internal testing, Techland found that last-gen systems simply couldn't push enough to meet the requirements that the most polished versions would require. The developers hope to push the PC, Xbox One and PlayStation 4 versions that are still in development to the limits of their respective platforms. Planned features that take advantage of current hardware include the ability to display up to 200,000 objects on screen at once, physics-based lighting that will simulate realistic shadows and lighting in real-time.

Techland hopes that those features in addition to the parkour-style gameplay and open world in the zombie apocalypse setting will give players a truly unique gaming experience that will be uncompromised by having to adapt the game for older consoles.

Dying Light will come to the PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC January 30, 2015.

Source: VG247 [http://www.vg247.com/2014/10/28/dying-light-ps3-xbox-360-ports-cancelled-just-couldnt-run-the-game/]

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[ScrabbitRabbit]

While it's a shame for those who only have the older consoles, I think this is actually kind of a good thing. It shows that they're really taking advantage of the new hardware. Especially with how many objects they want to display at a time, which could affect gameplay pretty dramatically.

I'm kinda hoping the shadows and lighting will be important to gameplay, too but I can deal with it just being pretty.

 

[Something Amyss]

Game I haven't heard of is only coming to consoles I don't own.

Well, I could snag it for PC.

If I cared.

Which I'm pretty sure I don't.

But mostly, I'm wondering how popular this game is. I'm not saying "I don't care, so you shouldn't," I'm curious as to how much of an impact this will actually have.

 

[Roxas1359]

Really I'm not surprised. Usually around this time more and more developers and publishers tend to focus on the newer systems and hardware instead of the older one. Happened with the jumped from the 6th gen to the 7th gen as well; more when it came to the PS2 mind you, but it still happened.

 

[masticina]

Well kinda expected it. I mean sure the PS3 and xbox 360 can do some decent graphics but. Yeah they are kinda old by now. And the best looking games usually require some tricks to get done.

If they feel that the old consoles are just not powerful enough then so be it.

After all would you try to make a game nowadays for the PS2? Yes the PS3 and xbox 360 are only about 1 year old hat but the last generation lasted rather long. And we got to meet its limits quite obvious!

 

[martyrdrebel27]

I don't know, anytime I read something like this, I always think "well, Rockstar did it...". GTA V is an incredibly technical achievement, and I know its not at all the same, but still, you can't get your game to work on still hey viable hardware? Rockstar did it...

 

[Sniper Team 4]

In the famous words of a certain King in the rain..."So it begins."

It has to happen eventually. Games have to stop being made for both the last and current generation at the same time, but I'm betting the PS3 and 360 will still be getting a games for at least a few more years.
I'd be a bit more sad about this if I had heard of this game before now, and if I was interested in it, but I'm okay. Still, sign of the times I suppose.

 

[J Tyran]

I don't know, anytime I read something like this, I always think "well, Rockstar did it...". GTA V is an incredibly technical achievement, and I know its not at all the same, but still, you can't get your game to work on still hey viable hardware? Rockstar did it...

True but these Techland guys probably only have a tiny fraction of the resources Rockstar have, Rockstar can throw huge chunks of cash and brain power at a technical challenge. Small developers like Techland don't have that option, I can respect their decision to focus their efforts on the newer hardware rather than struggle to develop two different architectures (Power PC for 360 and PS3 & x86 for current gen and PC). Larger publishers and studios will often give development of the last gen versions to the "B team" developers owned a large publisher like Activision or EA, that way the main studio develops the current gen release and hands off the last gen release to another dev.

Its a decision that may hurt them financially though, the current gen consoles are selling well but the install base for the Xbox 360 and PS3 is far, far larger and could have netted them more sales if the game turns out well.

 

[Rozalia1]

"older consoles just couldn't run the game and stay true to the core vision of Dying Light at the same time."

Alright I can respect that (if that is the reason), however in life you got to get paid...and skimping out on last gen likely means they've just made a mistake that'll cost them (especially if they already invested resources they won't get back).

So to me the smarter thing would be to simply create a..."new" game for last gen that is similar, and can make use out of a lot of what they are going to have in the current gen game (which they've likely done the work on already and is now going to waste).
Call it "first light" or something and give it a different story, not difficult to pull off. That way you can provide the "true experience" while at the same time having a last gen version.

 

[J Tyran]

So to me the smarter thing would be to simply create a..."new" game for last gen that is similar, and can make use out of a lot of what they are going to have in the current gen game (which they've likely done the work on already and is now going to waste).
Call it "first light" or something and give it a different story, not difficult to pull off. That way you can provide the "true experience" while at the same time having a last gen version.

Some games did that early in the last gen, games where made with recycled assets for the Xbox (not for long though) and the PS2 after the launch of. Microsoft dumped the Xbox fairly quickly but the PS2 soldiered on for quite a while, this decision will cost Techland though. They will be missing the much larger install base of the 7th gen machines, I guess they consulted with the accountants and came to the conclusion that this is the least painful choice.

The additional development on another architecture and having to painfully compromise on level design, AI and graphical fidelity because of the old hardware could have been taking resources away from the current gen and PC development. That could compromise the quality of all the releases in the long run, missing out on the last gen install base would be a better choice than the possibility of impacting the quality of the game (I am assuming the game is "okay" here until we see reviews) with the poor sales and the long term financial impact reputation damage a poor game could cause.

Of course my cynical side tells me the game is a crock of crap anyway, its hard to find the trust nowadays.

 

[Sillarra]

Isn't this a good thing? I mean, I often heard here that the older generation consoles are hampering development, but when a developer decides to dump the old consoles this is suddenly not a good thing, and that they will lose sales due to the smaller install base of PS4 and XBox One?

I don't get it....

 

[J Tyran]

Isn't this a good thing? I mean, I often heard here that the older generation consoles are hampering development, but when a developer decides to dump the old consoles this is suddenly not a good thing, and that they will lose sales due to the smaller install base of PS4 and XBox One?

I don't get it....

No you don't get it it, when a studio ships a game to machines with a smaller install base there is a good chance they will have fewer sales. For an example lets say someone made a JRPG for a handheld, ignoring the multiplatform option and imagine the developer can only afford to focus on one platform and they can launch it either on the PS Vita or the 3DS. (10 million units sold vs 45 million units sold iirc)

Which platform will have the higher potential revenue?

It is as simple as that, like I said above its good they are focusing on the current gen consoles. To get the game working on the older machines they would have to compromise level design and AI and gameplay related issues like that, not just the graphical fidelity.

You can see issues like that at work with games like GTA, even something as simple as the amount of cars on the road in the upcoming current gen release. Until the old consoles are "dead" we wont see many real "next gen" games as the studios are making compromises during the parallel development of Xbox One/PS4 and 360/PS3 games as they create assets that can easily be ported between Power PC and x86 with all the limitations the old consoles have. Issues like the amount of RAM and the level of CPU resources game engines can leverage are limiting some games, when more games are made purely for the XBone/PS4/PC we will see a lot more improvement.

Its brave of these guys to take that hit in order to push their game as far as they can rather than compromise it, bigger publishers like Ubisoft, Activision and EA would rather hand off last gen development to a "B team" studio they own and compromises the game in order to grab every single penny they can.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

It's a shame but oh well, I suppose this was bound to start happening sooner or later.