With the Dying Light franchise on the upswing, Techland really doesn't want any bad press right now. Dying Light 2 is coming soon, after all, and they would surely want to ensure that everything proceeds smoothly until then. With a next-gen patch in development and a new Dying Light: Hellraid update providing good press, having Dying Light banned on digital platforms (or at least Nintendo's e-Shop) in Europe is definitely a hitch in their plans.
Of course, that's what they're going to get because the first game has been digitally banned in Europe. How? Well, the European version of Dying Light in Europe is a different beast than Dying Light in North America or Asia, and that's because Nintendo's e-Shop is based in Germany, which banned the game back in 2015. This is before Germany started to relax a bit and started to decensor games like Half-Life and Wolfenstein, with the former being banned for violence and the latter being banned for, well, having a lot of Nazi emblems in it due to it being a Wolfenstein game.
Uncy_Techland on the Dying Light subreddit posted a statement on why Dying Light in Europe has been digitally restricted:
If you're talking about the digital version, then due to nature of content the digital version of the game is currently banned in Germany where European e-Shop is officially registered. This is making it impossible to officially distribute the game in European countries and also in Australia and New Zealand. We are currently working with our partner and local authorities to remove the ban as soon as we can.
The game is available digitally in the US and Asia, and the retail version is available worldwide (except Germany)
Of course, it isn't impossible to play if you're a European. The physical version will soon be freely available unless you're in Germany, and even then the Switch physical version can be bought online and shipped in. However, if you're a die-hard digital collector and want to play Dying Light in Europe, there are some steps you can take:
How to buy and download Dying Light in Europe
- Create a North American eShop account.
- Attach your credit card or add money into that specific account.
- Buy Dying Light: Platinum Edition.
- ????
- Profit.
It's really that simple, and while you shouldn't have to do it, there's an easy way around the ban if you so desire.
For more information on all things Dying Light, stay tuned to TechRaptor.