Now that Dying Light 2 has been unleashed onto the world, fans of the first game in this franchise have one major question on their collective mind – is Kyle Crane in the game?
Kyle Crane was the parkour-loving double agent at the heart of the first Dying Light game, but with that game and its DLC content offering multiple endings (ranging from Kyle setting off a nuclear bomb to Kyle becoming infected himself), fans have been wondering for years whether Kyle is still alive in the official canon of the franchise.
The Dying Light 2 cast centres on a brand-new character named Aiden, who is a totally different person to Kyle and has his own motivations for jumping off rooftops and fighting zombies. Dying Light 2 is also set in a new location, Villedor, eschewing the need to visit Kyle’s old Harran stomping ground altogether. It’s also worth noting that Dying Light 2 is set 15 years after the first game, which means any connections between the two stories are tangential at best.
But still, if you’re wondering about the status of Kyle Crane in Dying Light 2, read on for everything we know at this stage.
Is Kyle Crane in Dying Light 2?
No, Kyle Crane is not in Dying Light 2. There’s no surprise cameo from the hero of the first Dying Light game, and you certainly don’t get a chance to play as him again.
Dying Light 2’s new hero, Aiden, does have very similar abilities to Kyle (and they both love wearing baseball caps), but that’s not because they’re secretly the same person or anything like that.
Aiden is a ‘pilgrim’, one of the rare explorers that is willing to travel between different cities in the post-apocalyptic world of Dying Light 2 – that’s why he’s such an expert at parkour!
What about Dying Light 2 Easter eggs?
But if you are hoping for nods and references towards Kyle Crane in Dying Light 2, you are in luck on that front, as there are a number of Easter eggs in Dying Light 2 that hark back to Techland’s previous game in this series.
Kevin Daniels reprises his role as Kyle’s pal Spike in Dying Light 2, and he meets up with Aiden during the very first playable segment of the game. Serving as the connective tissue between Kyle Crane and Aiden, Spike stops to look at a beautiful vista at one point.
In this moment, Spike says, “Who would have though the end of the world could be so peaceful […] I wish Crane could’ve seen this.” Aiden asks who that is, confirming that he’s not Crane’s secret brother or BFF. “Doesn’t matter,” Spike says, putting the topic to bed. You can watch the Crane reference for yourself below, if you so wish!
That’s far from the only Easter egg in Dying Light 2, and there are a couple of others in this very same level: further nods and references include the musical score from the first game (Spike plays it on the piano if you hang around long enough) and a ‘Who do you Voodoo’ LP that Aiden picks up and comments upon (this is a reference to the theme music from Dead Island, another zombie game by Techland).
There are also nods to non-Techland products including Resident Evil (look out for characters named Leon and Chris) and The Office (there’s a poster about a missing stapler at one point). See what else you can spot when you load up the game for yourself!
Is Kyle Crane still alive during Dying Light 2?
Thanks to the multiple endings of Dying Light and its DLC, and Techland’s decision not to state which one they consider canon, the fate of Kyle Crane remains a mystery that’s hotly debated among fans.
Dying Light 2 does not explicitly confirm whether Kyle Crane is alive or dead, leaving things just ambiguous enough that any of the Dying Light endings can still just about fit into the canon.
You could argue that Spike’s line, “I wish Crane could’ve seen this”, implies that Kyle is dead (or undead, more like). But on the flip-side of that, Spike could just be saying that he wishes his very much alive friend was present at that exact moment so he could enjoy the view.
The opening cinematic of Dying Light 2, which we’ve included below, also keeps things just vague enough to ensure that your original Dying Light experience is still valid, whichever paths you took in the first game. It does say that Harran has been wiped from the map, but that could just be a reference to the zombie outbreak as opposed the optional nuke.
The opening cinematic also makes it clear that, nuke or not, the virus made it out of Harran. Despite a cure being found, the GRE continued to experiment on the zombie virus, and eventually a powerful new strain escaped from the labs (which definitely sounds like it was inspired by a certain COVID-19 theory).
Unless there’s a Dying Light 2 DLC coming that more overtly includes Kyle Crane or deliberately decides a canon ending for the first game, we’d say that Techland wants to leave the fate of the first game’s hero and city down to the players. However you chose to do it, that’s still valid until we find out otherwise!
Read more on Dying Light 2:
- Dying Light 2 crossplay – playing between platforms explained
- Dying Light 2 achievements – full list of trophies
- Dying Light 2 PC requirements
- How many hours to beat Dying Light 2?
- Dying Light 2 review – our final verdict
- Dying Light 2 cast
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