Dying Light: The Beast Hotfix 1.2.3 Improves Performance and Gameplay Balance

Techland has rolled out the long-awaited 1.2.3 hotfix for Dying Light: The Beast, and it’s a patch that directly tackles two of the community’s loudest complaints: stuttering caused by Frame Generation and the unfair dominance of zombie Biters’ grabbing mechanics.

The update isn’t just about smoothing over small bugs – it fundamentally improves how the game feels moment to moment, whether you’re running for your life in a Dark Zone or trying to line up a headshot without worrying about a jarring frame hitch.

One of the biggest technical headaches has been the uneven performance when NVIDIA DLSS Frame Generation was enabled. Players noticed a rhythm-breaking stutter that made combat encounters feel clunky, especially in scenes with dense crowds or fast movement. Techland’s engineers have addressed this head-on, reducing the micro-freezes and ensuring DLSS works the way it’s meant to – delivering fluid motion without forcing players to choose between visual quality and smooth gameplay. PS5 owners also benefit, as HDR-related glitches have finally been resolved.

Equally important, and perhaps even more celebrated among players, is the adjustment to how Biters grab. Before this patch, these zombies could seemingly ignore physics, latching onto players even through swings or while standing outside of their reach. This led to countless unfair deaths and altered how people approached combat – many were avoiding encounters altogether just to sidestep the broken mechanic. With the new balance, grabbing now feels fairer and less like a cheap trick, restoring tension without robbing players of control. Mods that attempted to fix this early showed how pressing the issue was, but now the fix is officially baked into the core game.

The hotfix also polishes a long list of mission and co-op bugs. Dark Zone Screamers now patrol as intended, critical tutorial progression blockers have been patched out, and co-op quest logic around destructible doors finally works correctly. Safe Spots have been stabilized, preventing players from becoming literally trapped due to respawning barriers, while a notorious issue at the Mental Asylum Safe Spot that left entrances blocked after reloads has been eliminated. Even small but immersion-breaking details, like quest music looping endlessly after reloads, have been corrected.

Console players will appreciate UI refinements too, such as the return of the missing “Join the Community” button, making it easier to engage with Techland’s broader player network. Taken together, the 1.2.3 patch may not add new content, but it cleans up the foundation of The Beast in ways that directly affect both performance and playability. For many, it’s the kind of behind-the-scenes work that ensures the game can grow without dragging legacy issues forward.

Of course, some questions remain. Veteran players are still debating whether nighttime Volatile encounters are balanced as well as in the original Dying Light, with some fearing the newer game may lean too heavily on constant spawns rather than carefully curated dread. Others report lingering memory leaks on powerful GPUs, like the RX 9070XT, which, while not immediately game-breaking, can cause crashes during longer sessions. Still, this hotfix is seen as a turning point: proof that Techland is listening and actively refining one of the year’s most atmospheric survival horror sandboxes.