Dying Light: The Beast Studio Explains Design of Protagonist Kyle Crane in Behind-the-Scenes Post

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Moving toward the September 19 launch of “Dying Light: The Beast”, its developer Techland has now shared an exclusive blog post, providing insights into the game’s development process. This post comes accompanied by a video that offers a glimpse behind the scenes. The initial installment in a series, this video focuses on the character design of protagonist Kyle Crane, revealing how he was shaped following his decade-long imprisonment. You can watch the video below for more details.

The Beast. His character design was greatly influenced by his dual personality, and although Crane has a brand new model for this game, they also included subtle references to his past from the original Dying Light, such as a scar he carries.

The studio explained that the character’s model underwent numerous updates until they achieved an appearance that seemed genuinely authentic. Their objective was to portray, through his face and physique, the effects of over a decade of imprisonment and torture he had endured. The design included realistic scars and marks from various experiments performed on him. Rather than creating arbitrary wounds, we meticulously considered what kinds of tests he might have undergone and the resulting traces they would leave. Additionally, it was crucial to depict his body as a visual narrative of past events, such as the scar from the climactic battle with Rais in “DL1.

In the characterization of Crane, the creators decided to give distinct emblems to different parts of his physique. The left side symbolizes his human aspect, while the right side is designed to be ominous and malevolent, embodying the monstrous persona – the namesake beast. Consequently, you’ll notice items such as a watch from Dying Light and Jade’s necklace adorning his left wrist, whereas the right side of his body bears marks like a scar running across half his face and a corrupted eye.

Techland stated that every aspect of Kyle’s appearance, including his radio, clothing, and accessories, were carefully selected to align with his story. For instance, they included a subtle detail in his walkie-talkie: at the start of the game, its battery was fully charged, but by the end, it was almost empty. Such minor details are significant to them, and they find it gratifying when players pick up on these subtleties.

Techland’s developers shared insights on their approach to animating Kyle Crane for “Dying Light: The Beast,” maintaining connections to aspects that made him recognizable in the original “Dying Light.” For instance, though they aim to avoid direct gameplay animation replicas from “Dying Light” in the upcoming game, animators seek inspiration from the earlier title’s movements to depict Crane’s muscle memory, character traits, and combat style.

The game titled ‘Dying Light: The Beast’ is set to release on PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S. The PC and current-gen console versions will be available starting September 19, with the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One releases scheduled for a later time.

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2025-08-29 16:41