Techland’s Troublesome Turbulence Comes to a Head

Warning: The following article may contain strong language that may not be suitable for some readers. Reader’s discretion is advised.

Game developer Techland might not be a household name, but it’s developed some household name-worthy games in its time. Whether it’s Call of Juarez, Dead Island, or Dying Light, you’ve likely played a Techland game if you’re into action titles. Their quality ranges from very high with Dying Light, to absolutely abysmal with Chrome, but they’ve persisted since the turn of the century cranking out tons of games consistently.

Now, though, things are a bit troubling with the long-standing development of Dying Light 2. Aside from a racing game in 2015, it’s been almost a decade since the studio has done anything not related to zombie-killing. Gone are the hopes of Hellraid, an enticing announcement from 2013 that has only resulted in a mobile spinoff and a lot of waiting for the actual title. So what has the company done since the flop of Dying Light‘s attempt to capitalize on the battle royale genre in 2018?

It’s not looking great and hasn’t for a while. In early 2020, Techland announced the first delay – no release date specified at that point. Later that year, sexual misconduct allegations were placed upon Chris Avellone, and Techland swiftly came to an agreement to release him from his involvement. Now, in 2021, TheGamer released a report on how Techland is operating, beginning their article with “It’s shit.”

There’s lots of concern to be had with the claims in this report. It’s starting to be common knowledge that AAA and even indie gaming studios are being mismanaged, worked-to-the-bone, and are just toxic in general. Dead Island 2 has been in development hell for ages, and now it looks like Dying Light 2 is headed down the same path. Here’s hoping this is a wake-up call for the management within Techland and it becomes a more reasonable, fair place to work, as it would be a shame to fold after all these years.