It was supposed to be the "impossible" port. After Techland successfully squeezed the massive open world of the first game onto Nintendo’s handheld, everyone assumed Dying Light 2 Switch would follow a similar, albeit cloud-based, path. Then, silence. It’s been years since the initial hype, and if you go looking for a physical cartridge or a standard eShop download today, you’re going to find a whole lot of nothing.
The reality of "Stay Human" on the Switch is a bit of a mess.
Techland originally promised a Cloud Version. They didn't just whisper about it; they set a date. But as the February 2022 launch for PC and consoles came and went, the Nintendo version drifted into a weird development limbo. Honestly, it’s a cautionary tale about the limits of mobile hardware and the finicky nature of streaming high-end AAA titles.
The Technical Wall for Dying Light 2 Stay Human
The original Dying Light ran on the Chrome Engine 6. It was old, manageable, and honestly, the Switch port was a miracle of optimization. Techland’s wizards managed to get it running natively. But Dying Light 2? That runs on the C-Engine. It’s a beast. It’s built specifically for ray-tracing, massive verticality, and a dense "urban jungle" that makes the first game look like a playground.
💡 You might also like: Why Pokemon TV Animation Edition Cards Still Hold Up Decades Later
The Switch’s Tegra X1 chip just can’t handle that natively. Not even close.
So, they opted for the "Cloud Version" route. We’ve seen this before with Control, Hitman 3, and Resident Evil Village. The game runs on a powerful server somewhere else, and you essentially "YouTube" your way through the gameplay. It sounds great on paper. In practice, it depends entirely on your ISP and how close you live to a data center. Techland officially pushed the Switch release back, claiming they wanted to provide the "experience fans deserve." That was over two years ago.
Why the Delay Turned Into a Disappearance
The gaming industry changed fast between 2022 and 2024. Techland was acquired by Tencent. This shifted priorities. While the team continued to pump out massive updates like "Gut Feeling" and the "Bloody Ties" DLC for PS5, Xbox, and PC, the Switch version became a ghost.
There's a specific reason for this. Cloud versions of games don't sell particularly well. They are hard to market because you don't "own" the game in the traditional sense, and the second your Wi-Fi hiccups, the game becomes unplayable. For a high-speed parkour game like Dying Light 2 Stay Human, input lag is a death sentence. If you press the jump button and there's a 100ms delay because of a server spike, you're falling off a Villedor skyscraper. It's frustrating. It's not the "platinum" experience Techland usually aims for.
What Most People Get Wrong About the Switch Version
A lot of folks think the game was outright canceled. Technically, it wasn't. But it’s "effectively" dead in its original form.
Rumors have been swirling for months about Nintendo's next hardware—the "Switch 2." If you're Techland, why would you waste resources trying to polish a laggy cloud version for an aging console when you could wait and release a native, or at least highly-optimized, version for much more powerful hardware? It makes sense. It’s the smart business move.
✨ Don't miss: How to Unlock Characters in Mario Kart Wii Without Losing Your Mind
- Development costs: Porting to Cloud isn't free. You have to pay for server maintenance and architecture.
- User Experience: Techland is known for long-term support (they supported the first game for seven years!). Maintaining a cloud infrastructure for a decade is an expensive nightmare.
- Market Timing: The "Switch 2" or whatever Nintendo calls their successor is the real target now.
The Performance Gap: Villedor vs. The Switch
Villedor is huge. It’s not just the horizontal scale; it’s the layers. You have the street level filled with thousands of infected, the middle layer of shops and interiors, and the rooftops where the parkour happens.
On a PS5, this is handled by an SSD that can stream assets in milliseconds. The Switch uses EMMC memory or slow SD cards. Even if they tried a "native" port with massive downgrades, the "City Alignment" system—where the world changes based on your choices—would likely break the CPU. You’d be looking at a world with no textures, 15 frames per second, and a resolution that looks like Vaseline smeared on the screen.
Nobody wants that. Not even the most die-hard Nintendo fans.
Real Alternatives if You Want Dying Light 2 on the Go
If you’re itching to play Dying Light 2 and you don't want to be tethered to a TV, the Switch isn't your only path anymore. The handheld market exploded right as the Switch version of DL2 started to fade.
- The Steam Deck: This is the gold standard. It runs the game natively. You can get a solid 30-40 FPS with a mix of low and medium settings. It feels like the "Switch Pro" version we never got.
- ROG Ally / Lenovo Legion Go: These Windows-based handhelds can actually push the game to 60 FPS using FSR (FidelityFX Super Resolution).
- GeForce Now: If you really wanted that "Cloud" experience on your Switch, you can actually use a browser exploit or an Android-modded Switch to run NVIDIA’s streaming service. It works better than most official Cloud Versions anyway.
The Future of Dying Light on Nintendo
Will we ever see Dying Light 2 Switch?
Probably not on the current hardware. The "Cloud Version" page on the eShop has been a "coming soon" placeholder for an eternity. However, looking at Techland’s history, they love bringing their games to as many people as possible. If the next Nintendo console has the power of, say, a PS4 Pro, a native port becomes very likely.
The first Dying Light: Platinum Edition on Switch proved that this franchise can work on a handheld. It sold well. It proved the audience is there. The "zombie-slaying-on-the-bus" vibe is a legitimate niche.
Actionable Steps for Players Right Now
Stop waiting for the eShop update. It’s a "wait for the next console" situation. If you absolutely need to play it now, here is what you should do:
👉 See also: Thought Control Fallout 3: Why the Mesmetron is the Weirdest Weapon in the Wasteland
- Check the Steam Deck: If you can swing the cost, it’s the best way to play DL2 portably. It’s the version the Switch version was trying to be.
- Play the first game: If you haven't played Dying Light: Platinum Edition on Switch, do that first. It’s a masterpiece of a port and will give you 100+ hours of gameplay while the industry figures out the hardware situation for the sequel.
- Keep an eye on Nintendo Directs: Any official news regarding the sequel on Nintendo hardware will likely be tied to a hardware reveal, not a random tweet from Techland.
- Avoid the "Cloud" hype: If a Cloud version does eventually drop for the current Switch, try the demo first. Always. Do not buy it until you see how it handles your specific home network.
The dream of parkour in the palm of your hand isn't dead, but for Dying Light 2, it's currently on ice. The hardware simply couldn't catch up to the ambition of the game.