Dying Light 2's first story DLC drops you into a fighting pit

With the world overrun by zombies, you'd think the last thing anyone would be asking for is a place where human survival becomes even less likely. But this is Dying Light 2, where the bloodthirstiness of the infected usually pales in comparison to that of human beings. It's almost like we are the walking dead, or something.

Dying Light 2: Bloody Ties is the first story-based DLC for the open world zombie parkour game, and as the teaser last week suggested it's gonna take the focus away from skipping across rooftops and gliding around skyscrapers to plop you into a gladiatorial arena. The centerpiece is Carnage Hall, where warriors battle each other to the death in front of a cheering crowd. Hey, there's no Netflix in the zombie apocalypse. People need their entertainment fix.

In the trailer above you can get a look at the carnage, which doesn't just include human-on-human violence—there appears to be a fighting pit beneath the fighting pit, so if you get knocked to the lower level it looks like you'll have to battle mobs of infected just to get back up to the main floor where the other fighters are waiting to kill you.

What's the actual story in this story DLC? Good question, and I haven't found a good answer yet. "In Bloody Ties, players will embark on a new story adventure, you will reach the epicenter of death, wealth and absolute splendour in a stunning location; The Carnage Hall," reads the trailer's description. "This old opera building is full of challenges and quests, surprising new weapon types, character interactions, and discoveries to uncover."

Does "kill or be killed" qualify as a story? I'm not sure, but we'll find out if there's more going on when Bloody Ties is released on October 13.

Catch up with our full list of Gamescom announcements from Opening Night Live and check our Gamescom schedule to find out when to watch everything else.

Chris started playing PC games in the 1980s, started writing about them in the early 2000s, and (finally) started getting paid to write about them in the late 2000s. Following a few years as a regular freelancer, PC Gamer hired him in 2014, probably so he'd stop emailing them asking for more work. Chris has a love-hate relationship with survival games and an unhealthy fascination with the inner lives of NPCs. He's also a fan of offbeat simulation games, mods, and ignoring storylines in RPGs so he can make up his own.