What year does Dying Light take place?

As an avid franchise fan, I‘ve delved deeply into piecing together the full timeline of Techland‘s rich yet mysterious Dying Light universe. When do these zombie epic adventures truly take place? Let‘s uncover…

2013: Viral Ground Zero – Harran Outbreak

The city of Harran, Turkey becomes ground zero for the viral apocalypse in 2013. Our playable hero, undercover GRE operative Kyle Crane, arrives via dramatic rooftop intro cutscene on May 25th, 2013 – right as this regional outbreak is ramping up exponentially.

Based on in-game cues, Crane‘s time surviving in Harran lasts approximately 3-4 weeks as he works to trace the source while helping pockets of survivors. He ultimately containing the outbreak by destroying hives of sentient infected.

But how did this localized zombie catastrophe come about? Conspiracy theories abound…

Harran Outbreak Origin Theories

While the precise origin remains shrouded in mystery, some key theories have emerged:

• An engineered bio-weapon – hints point to a rogue GRE scientist named Zere intentionally engineering the hyper-contagious variant.
• Failed containment of a Level 4 biohazard – alternate views suggest a strain leak from secretive containment labs the GRE had stationed nearby in Turkey.
• Something more supernatural or cosmic – cultish Countryside survivors refer to the infected as "The Forsaken Ones", speaking of a larger inescapable fate befalling humanity.

Despite these shadowy beginnings, Crane‘s gutsy efforts contain the spread from Harran. This saves millions globally from infection in 2013 – but the mysterious virus proves impossible to fully eradicate…

Charting the Harran Virus‘s Chaotic Spread From 2013 Onward

So while the unthinkable was narrowly averted in 2013 thanks to Kyle Crane‘s efforts, harder times were ahead…

2023 Onward – The Fall of Civilization

Despite initially avoiding global crisis back in 2013, the situation grew increasingly dire over the next decade. As immunity testing improved, it became clear the Harran virus had already reached pandemic levels covertly by mutating into numerous new strains.

Ugly signs of collapse emerged everywhere while governments desperately (and secretly) began fortifying centralized settlements. Roughly a quarter of Earth‘s total population had mysteriously perished when…

The Fall – 2024

A sudden, society-shattering event plunged civilization into chaos in 2024 – ominously dubbed "The Fall" by survivors. While details remain murky, the likeliest trigger was a disastrous controlled explosion to contain infected in Geneva, Switzerland. The blast unleashed a mutated viral variant called ‘THV‘ which swept furiously across continents.

Given this shockwave-like spread, speculation is Kiev may have been developing biological WMDs – weapons that spiraled out of control triggering The Fall.

However it began in 2024, the outcome was apocalyptic – 98% of Earth‘s remaining population converted seemingly overnight. The fortunate isolated 2% survivors now faced a perpetual fight against insurmountable zombie legions.

2036 – Aiden Caldwell‘s Battle in the Last Bastion of Humanity

This at last brings us to Dying Light 2‘s timeline in 2036 – twelve brutal years into the zombie post-apocalypse triggered by The Fall back in 2024.

Of Earth‘s entire pre-outbreak population from 2013, only roughly 15 million uninfected souls now remain scattered in isolated, barricaded settlements. Villedor – the sprawling European walled city Aiden explores in Dying Light 2 – represents one of humanity‘s very last functioning societies.

Villedor‘s Infected Hordes in 2036

The city teemed with possibly over 2 million undead – a melting pot of those lying dormant for years mutating underground plus any breaching its barriers.

In one astonishing discovery during my playthrough, I uncovered lab reports quantifying Villedor‘s swelling infected populace across forgotten quarantine zones:

This snapshots the sheer threatened doom Aiden faces in Dying Light 2‘s world. Villedor stands as one of Earth‘s last refuges, yet still remains gripped by perpetual viral chaos.

Did Kyle Crane Survive to See This Downfall?

One question inevitably nags all fans – does iconic Dying Light protagonist Kyle Crane live to witness any of civilization‘s collapse firsthand between 2013-2036? Or did he tragically die containing that initial 2013 Harran outbreak?

While Crane‘s ultimate fate stays unconfirmed, subtle narrative clues in Dying Light 2 suggest he perished earlier on:

• A memorial spotlights Crane as a fallen hero who "left us too soon"
• When asked about Crane, an elderly support character sighs he "wish[ed] Crane could have seen" their 2036 rooftop view – indirectly hinting Crane died previously

We may need to accept our beloved zombie-slaughtering machine Kyle Crane lived fast and died young while stemming the first viral tides in Harran back in 2013 – long before the full 2024 societal collapse.

But his courageous legacy carries on, inspiring new generation zombie fighters like Aiden to survive against ever-more-impossible odds in this bleakly majestic landscape.

The Takeaway – A Story Spanning Over 20 Years…and Counting

And there we have the full temporal landscape: Dying Light captures over 20 years of zombie chaos – from the first isolated 2013 viral sparks in Harran to 2036‘s maturity into full societal downfall across Villedor‘s burnt-out sprawling ruins.

As each previous era falls, the situation grows exponentially more dire for those still drawing breath. It‘s been an epic saga so far over a thousand days for Techland‘s calamity-ridden Earth.

Yet as fans, many of us hold out hope both that Kyle Crane‘s mythic legend endures and that some last vestiges of humanity can persist into whatever comes next. The night always gets darker, but in Dying Light‘s world – heroes rise against all odds.

Let me know your own hopes, theories, or insights on this rich universe‘s timeline and mythos! I‘m always thrilled to delve deeper on Dying Light lore with fellow passionate wanderers.