Dying Light: The Beast gets a free major Restored Land update today, with a new persistent world mode

Dying Light: The Beast gets a major new update today, which is free for all players.

The new update, which is called Restored Land, adds what developer Techland calls a “highly challenging, solo experience that brings a new way to play Dying Light: The Beast”.

The main difference in Restored Land is that it now features a permanent world, meaning everything you do remains that way. When zombies are killed they stay dead, and new ones don’t respawn.

This also means that looted items don’t respawn, while the game has also been tweaked so that containers include fewer supplies and shops offer reduced stock at higher prices.

“Under these new rules, activities such as Convoys, Dark Zones and Hives need only be completed once,” Techland says. “Survival mechanics are intensified, including the need to manage hunger and replace depleted flashlight batteries against this backdrop of finite materials.”

The result of this is a game that’s more difficult than the base game, but one that “marks a turning point in the Dying Light story where, for the first time, hope can return as areas are fully cleared of the infected” and survivors start reappearing.

Other new content provided with the free update includes:

• A One Life option that lets players try to complete Restored Land without dying
• Roadkill Rallies: “vehicular competitive challenges blending zombie-slaying action with route optimization across the open world”
• 33 new quest encounters
• “New brutal finishers”
• 7 new achievements
• 5 new hidden stashes
• “Improvements to special infected fights and co-op”
• “Dozens of gameplay and performance enhancements”

Players who already own the Standard Edition of Dying Light: The Beast will get a free upgrade to the Restored Land Edition, which includes the update and all other previously released updates including New Game+, Legend Levels, ray tracing and Nightmare Mode.