Dying Light Update Boosts Graphics, Audio for 10-Year Hit

In a surprise move, Techland is bringing players back to Harran after a decade with a free content release for the original Dying Light, dubbed the Retouched update.

On June 26, 2025, the thousands of players still devoted to the 2015 zombie parkour sensation will receive a host of improvements designed to enhance the overall experience. The Dying Light: Retouched update introduces visual upgrades, a remastered soundtrack, and more for players on PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S. IGN has contacted Techland to inquire about a potential Nintendo Switch version of the Retouched update.

Let's be clear: the Retouched Update is about getting even more out of the Dying Light experience you already enjoy.

This is a thrilling moment for fans of the original Dying Light, but Techland is keen to clarify that Retouched is not a remaster. Franchise director Tymon Smektała emphasized that this update focuses on refining the original experience without increasing its system requirements.

"When I checked online the day after [the update announcement], I was genuinely surprised. Many of you were expecting a full-scale remaster," Smektała stated in a recent blog post. "So, let's set the record straight: the Retouched Update is about extracting even more value from the Dying Light you know and love. It is not a complete overhaul or a remaster."

Players can look forward to several visual enhancements, including upgraded textures, lighting, and shadow details. You might observe added detail on a wooden fence or more realistic light reflections on certain metal surfaces, for instance. Techland is particularly pleased with the improved appearance of some floors and cement walls in Dying Light: Retouched, sharing images of stone paths that now display greater depth.

Dying Light: Retouched - Screenshots

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For audio, original Dying Light composer Paweł Blaszczak returned to remaster the soundtrack. The entire score has been re-recorded on tape for Retouched, with new tracks, ambient sounds, and even remastered hit reaction audio included in this update.

"Many of you have asked about the Retouched Update over the past few months — where it was, why it was delayed," the post continued. "The honest truth is this: we were working with technology that's over ten years old. Despite all the expertise we've accumulated since then, figuring out how to apply that knowledge to the original Dying Light engine while maintaining stability was a significant challenge."

The Dying Light: Retouched update is less about resurrecting a forgotten title and more a testament to the development team delivering an unexpected gift for a game that has remarkably stood the test of time. Although SteamDB shows a peak player count of only 45,876, the original Dying Light has consistently maintained around 12,000 players over the past year. These are impressive figures for a zombie game that primarily focuses on its single-player content, especially when compared to Dying Light 2: Stay Human, released just three years ago, which often fails to reach 10,000 concurrent players.

The original Dying Light narrative will continue with the launch of Dying Light: The Beast, which recently confirmed a release date of August 22, 2025, for PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S. It follows the original protagonist, Kyle Crane, in a new story; you can see our preview of its current state here. For more background, you can also read our original Dying Light review, where we awarded the parkour zombie game an 8.5/10.