Dying Light: The Beast canceled for PS4 and Xbox One due to hardware limitations

There was a time when cross-generation releases were the norm, but that era is quickly (and thankfully) coming to an end, allowing things to progress for future tech.

What is unfortunate, though, is that Techland has now confirmed that Dying Light: The Beast will no longer launch on PlayStation 4 or Xbox One, bringing an end to months of uncertainty surrounding the last-generation versions.

In a statement shared on social media, the developer revealed that the difficult decision came down to one simple issue of that the ageing hardware couldn’t deliver the experience the studio wanted players to have.

Techland says old hardware can’t keep up

According to Techland, “Dying Light: The Beast was built from the ground up” with “current-generation hardware” in mind. While the game had originally been announced for PS4 and Xbox One alongside PS5, Xbox Series X|S and PC, development eventually showed that those older consoles simply weren’t capable of running the game without significant compromises.

Also in its statement, Techland explained that the game’s open world, advanced visuals, fluid parkour and combat systems all rely on processing power and memory that the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One can’t provide. Rather than scale back those core features, the studio opted to cancel the last-generation versions entirely.

Refunds will be available

The news is obviously disappointing for those who were still planning to pick up the game on PS4 or Xbox One, but Techland has confirmed that anyone who has purchased a copy on those platforms will be eligible for a refund.

While unfortunate for last-generation owners, the announcement isn’t actually that surprising. Dying Light: The Beast originally began life as DLC for Dying Light 2 before growing into a standalone experience with significantly larger ambitions. Those ambitions appear to have outgrown hardware first released back in 2013.

More and more major publishers are beginning to leave PS4 and Xbox One behind, and Techland’s decision is definitely another sign that the industry is finally closing the book on the previous console generation.