Techland, the Polish game developer responsible for four
Call of Juarez games (with the most recent one,
Gunslinger, launching in 2013),
Dying Light, and its sequel, is officially preparing to shut down its local publishing and distribution division by the end of the year, with 13 employees being laid off.
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After months' worth of market analysis, we have started the process of shutting down the Polish publishing and distribution department," Techland's CEO Paweł Marchewka said. "
This only applies to third party boxed goods on the Polish market. For several years physical distribution has not been the core of our strategy, which is to develop the best AAA action open-world games."
While this decision might be unexpected, it's not supposed to impact the development of
Dying Light 2 and yet unannounced big-budget title. "
These changes have no impact on our global publishing plans and the development of two AAA games we are currently working on, one of them being Dying Light 2. Our company is constantly growing and developing great games. The sales of the original Dying Light are not only not decreasing, but actually continuing to grow year-on-year. Dying Light constantly reaches new audiences and this makes us happy and shows us we have chosen the right direction. It also motivates us to work hard on making Dying Light 2 our best game yet."
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I have personally made sure to take care of the affairs and future careers of the members of our Polish distribution department who will be leaving Techland. Severance packages they will receive are both above the industry and the Polish employment legislation standards. I would like to thank the whole team for the many years of great work together." Techland still employs over 400 artists, with more than 50 in active recruitment, a team currently comparable to the
Cyberpunk 2077 one.
In May, Techland confirmed that
Hellraid, the studio's hack’n’slash game set in a dark fantasy universe, has been canceled. Considering that
Dying Light 2 was revealed at E3 2018, we should learn more about the other title relatively soon, as they share a 300 million zloty (roughly $80 million) budget.
The fate of a decaying City is in your hands. Every choice matters. Discover the bold sequel to a best-selling open-world phenomenon.
Dying Light 2 is coming out in 2019.