Dying Light won’t be available for physical purchase in European regions on the planned release date.
The game was due to hit shelves on Tuesday, 27th January, but now it will only be available via digital purchase (which, of course, is significantly more expensive). Techland has so far given no reason for the delay, simply saying that everyone outside North America will be affected.
“There will be a short delay in the release of physical copies of Dying Light in Europe, Middle East, Africa, Asia and Australia,” the developer stated via a post on its official Facebook page. “The game will have a global digital release on PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC of January 27, 2015. As physical production has a longer lead time than digital there is some delay in the aforementioned territories. We will share information on the availability of physical copies as soon as it is confirmed.”
This means that on the official launch day only the more expensive - and non-refundable - digital version of the game will be available for purchase.
You’d be forgiven for raising an eyebrow at Techland’s statement - after all, the release date was announced quite some time ago, and this is the first time we can think of that a game’s physical release has been pushed back. Plenty of other games manage to achieve a simultaneous digital and physical release, after all. As you might expect, some areas of the gaming community are accusing Techland of attempting to force people into purchasing the more expensive digital version of the game.
In the United Kingdom, you can pre-order the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 version of Dying Light for £54.99, or you can pre-order the PS4’s Premium Edition (which includes the Dying Light season pass) for £69.99. On Steam, the game costs £39.99 to pre-purchase and £55.99 for a bundle that includes the game and its season pass. That’s not exactly spare change we’re talking about, and constitutes a rather hefty mark-up on the physical release - Dying Light is currently available on Shopto to preorder for £41.86 on console, and £24.85 on PC.
We’ve asked for an explanation for the delay from publisher Warner Bros., and will let you know if we hear back.
