Zombie games don’t look like they’ll ever really go away.Back 4 BloodandState of Decay 3are only some of the latest entries in a long tradition of games focused on surviving the zombie apocalypse. However, there’s one game that’s getting lapped by these new announcements, and that’sDead Island 2. The firstDead Islandcame out ten years ago, and although there was a bit of controversy around it, the reception was warm enough that a sequel seemed like a logical move. Development on the sequel began almost immediately. In spite of that,Dead Island 2has yet to escape development.
Fans are understandably wondering if the game is ever going to come out at this point.Dead Island 2has been handed off from developer to developer and keeps facing setbacks just when it seems like it’s making some progress. All the while, the game industry is moving ahead quickly.Dead Island 2was originally in development for the PS4 and the Xbox One when they were still young consoles. Now, the PS5 and the Xbox Series X are freshly released and going strong.Dead Island 2is supposedly stillbeing worked on, but is it ever going to make it out, or has its moment passed?
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One thing that’s odd aboutDead Island 2is that it’s not even being made by the developers that started the franchise. Techland let go ofDead Island 2pretty quickly, and producer Deep Silver lined up Yager Productions to work on the game instead. Yager worked on the game for several years before it had a falling out with Deep Silver, after whichDead Island 2’s development was handed to Sumo Digital. After a couple more years, Sumo Digital also let go of the IP, and an internal Deep Silver studiopicked up theDead Islandmantleinstead.
That kind of winding development is never a good sign for any game. Every time someone new takes over production, it means new visions are being applied to the project. Concepts and plans will change, sometimes drastically, and so the game gets set back in development. Sometimes all these setbacks add up enough that the owner of the IP decides to just drop the project and focus on something that’s doing better. That’d be an awful shame for fans ofDead Island. Ten years is a long time towait for aDead Islandsequelthat’s been public knowledge for six or seven of those years.
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Holding Onto Hope
If there’s one thingforDead Islandfans to hang onto, it’s that Deep Silver is still speaking about the game positively. Just last December, Deep Silver indicated to fans that it and Dambuster Studios are still working onDead Island 2.Deep Silver easily could’ve dropped the sequel by now. Instead, it seems determined to push the sequel through. There’s potentially a lot to gain from finishing upDead Island 2, right when video game technology is making leaps and bounds. By the time it’s finally done, this sequel might be a lot stronger than its source material.
That doesn’t mean fans should prepare for a major announcement anytime soon, though. There hasn’t been any proper news in a really long time; the closest thing to announcements were leaks of earlyDead Island 2builds and new job postings from early 2020. It’s still possible that Deep Silver eventually calls it quits and cuts its losses on the game. It already publishesevergreen franchises, likeSaints RowandWasteland,so it’s not betting everything onDead Island 2.
This zombie game might have a hard time breaking into a market dominated by titans likeThe Last of Us.Still, as long as Deep Silver is hiring and talking about the game as if there’s hope,Dead Island 2might still have a chance to rise from its grave.
Dead Island 2is in development for PC, PS4, and Xbox One.
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