Dying Light‘s thrilling first person parkour gameplay in a post-apocalyptic open world made it a huge hit when it launched back in 2015. The recent release of hotly anticipated sequel Dying Light 2 has sparked renewed interest in the original Dying Light.
Many new zombie genre and survival game fans are wondering: can I still get Dying Light for free in 2023? Or at least pick it up on the cheap?
In this comprehensive guide, we‘ll cover everything you need to know about scoring Dying Light for nothing or next to nothing in the new year:
Did Dying Light have any free promotions you may have missed?
What are the best deals, bundles and discounts for Dying Light editions?
Should you play the original before jumping to Dying Light 2?
How does Dying Light 1 hold up graphically and gameplay-wise in 2023?
What tips do you need to optimize performance and enhance Dying Light on PC?
Let‘s dig in and determine whether you should return to Harran or wait for a future Dying Light freebie!
A Brief Background on Dying Light
Before answering the pressing question of scoring Dying Light for free, let‘s cover some key facts for context on this hit zombie survival game:
Developer: Techland
Release Date: January 27, 2015
Platforms: PS4, Xbox One, PC, Nintendo Switch (2022)
Gameplay: First-person parkour, melee combat, 4 player co-op
Setting: Quarantined fictional city of Harran during a zombie apocalypse
Dying Light garnered critical praise for its responsive first-person parkour movement and incredibly visceral, satisfying melee weapons-focused combat. Roaming the post-apocalyptic urban landscape scavenging supplies by day and evading lethal infected by night made for an addictive gameplay loop.
The game was a surprise sales hit, selling over 5 million copies in its first 6 months. It won numerous awards, including the 2016 Game Developers Choice Award for Best Design.
Dying Light received 4 years of excellent post-release support with expansions, enhancements and content updates. This cemented its reputation as one of the most robust zombie survival games ever made.
In 2022, Techland finally delivered the hotly anticipated sequel Dying Light 2 Stay Human. But does the stellar original Dying Light still warrant playing in 2023? Let‘s dig deeper.
Was Dying Light Recently Free? Where You Can Get It Free Now
Dying Light did actually have a short free promotion from April 6th to April 13th, 2022 on the Epic Games Store. This was a 1 week window to add Dying Light: Enhanced Edition to your Epic library permanently for free.
However, that limited-time promotion has expired. Dying Light is no longer available for free on any PC or console platform as of early 2023.
If you missed claiming it during that Epic Store freebie period, your only remaining options are watching for occasional free play weekends on console stores or giveaways on sites like Reddit.
For example, Dying Light has been offered as a free PlayStation Plus monthly game back in May 2020. It‘s unlikely to return as a PS Plus freebie anytime soon, but you never know.
On Xbox, Dying Light has been free in the past with Games With Gold promotions. Your best bet is to monitor the free games lineups on both consoles for a shot at adding Dying Light to your library at no cost.
Barring another free promotion, the good news is you can still frequently find Dying Light editions on impressive discounts. Let‘s look at the best deals.
Current Deals – Grabbing Dying Light Editions on the Cheap
While a totally free copy may be hard to come by, Dying Light sees such deep discounts on a regular basis that you can often grab it for less than $10.
Here are the best current deals and bundles for cheap Dying Light access:
Steam Sale: Wait for major Steam sales where Dying Light drops to $15 or under. The Lunar New Year Sale is coming up end of January!
Epic Coupons: Epic often provides $10-$15 coupons during sales you can stack for extra savings.
CD Key Sites: Instant Gaming, Eneba and others sell Dying Light keys for only $9.99 – $14.99 year-round.
Fanatical Bundles: Occasional bundles like the Dollar Deals including Dying Light for just $4.99!
Retail Discounts: Physical copies at Amazon, Walmart etc. can get 33% or more slashed off price.
Console Sales: Dying Light hits $15 or under during big PSN/Xbox sales events a few times per year.
As you can see, even without full free access, you have plenty of opportunities to grab Dying Light Enhanced Edition or Platinum Edition for under $15 if you watch for bundles and stack discounts/promo codes.
Gameplay, Graphics and Content – How Dying Light 1 Holds Up
Dying Light originally released over 7 years ago in early 2015. So how does the gameplay and graphics stack up by 2023 standards? Is the original still worth buying with Dying Light 2 out now?
In short – yes, absolutely. Here‘s why Dying Light remains a must-play even after the excellent sequel:
Responsive Parkour: Dying Light‘s fluid first-person parkour movement still feels fantastic in 2023. Perfectly suited to the urban environment.
Satisfying Combat: Cleaving zombies with melee weapons and creative traps still provides an incredibly visceral thrill.
Tense Day/Night Cycle: The dynamic day and night cycle keeps you on edge as lethal infected emerge at night.
Strong Writing: Dying Light has an emotive core narrative with memorable characters and great voice acting.
Stunning Visuals: The visuals hold up nicely, especially with mods on PC. Nighttime Harran remains atmospheric.
Years of Updates: Dying Light received a ridiculous amount of free DLC, expansions, events and improvements over 4+ years.
Great Value: You receive a huge amount of content and gameplay longevity for the cost.
Co-Op Still Active: Finding random players for 4 player co-op is quick and amplifies the fun exponentially.
Yes, Dying Light 2 makes notable gameplay improvements over the original. But Dying Light 1 absolutely still warrants playthrough in 2023 based on its responsive core mechanics, tense atmosphere and staggering amount of content added over the years since launch.
Optimizing Dying Light on PC – Settings and Mods
Dying Light‘s well-optimized PC version makes it playable on a wide range of hardware. But you can further improve graphics and gameplay with a few tweaks:
Graphics Settings
Target 1080p/60FPS on medium settings for smooth performance unless you have an RTX 30 series or RX 6000 series GPU
Turn off unnecessary effects like Motion Blur, Depth of Field, Ambient Occlusion to boost FPS
Lower shadow quality a notch if your frames dip during demanding scenes
Increase draw distance to appreciate Harran‘s stunning vistas
Mods & Tweaks
The Dying Light Modding Tool gives you access to hundreds of mods to enhance all aspects
DLTX 1.0 overhauls textures for 4K quality without a big performance hit
Audio Overhaul improves spatial sound for more immersion
Enhanced Gore ratchets up the blood and gore for extra brutality
Advanced Movement adds wall running, slides and grappling hook abilities
Follow the above optimization tips and you‘ll be parkouring through zombie hordes at a smooth 60 FPS in no time. The vibrant modding community ensures Dying Light will remain a great looking and playing experience for many years to come.
Weighing Dying Light in 2023 – Is It Still Worth Buying & Playing?
Let‘s recap the key pros and cons of diving into Dying Light now that the sequel has arrived:
Pros
Extremely responsive first-person parkour and combat
Tense and thrilling day/night cycle
Great value with hundreds of hours of content
Still an active online co-op community
Looks and runs fantastic with mods on PC
Complements Dying Light 2‘s narrative as a prequel
Cons
Dying Light 2 makes notable gameplay improvements
Visuals are obviously dated compared to modern games
You likely missed out on free promos
May want to wait for an even deeper sale price
Overall, I still wholeheartedly recommend playing Dying Light in 2023. The sheer joy of movement and engaging traversal combined with brutal, visceral combat in a post-apocalyptic open world is still engrossing.
The day/night cycle creates such a palpable tension matched by few games. Generous post-launch support means staggering bang for buck that you should absolutely experience before or after Dying Light 2.
For under $15 on PC and consoles, Dying Light Ultimate Edition including The Following expansion is one of the best value propositions in all of gaming. Don‘t miss a chance to return to Harran for an electrifying parkour zombie adventure!
