Despite numerous cancellation rumors and changing of hands, Dead Island 2 may not be as dead in the water as many originally thought. While news about the upcoming sequel has been either non-existent or worrisome, the studio over at Deep Silver has confirmed that the zombie-driven game is still in development with one simple tweet.
In a recent post by the studio regarding Saints Row: Gat Out Of Hell being free thanks to Xbox Games With Gold, one fan responded back with the simple question: Dead Island 2? Another Twitter user responded saying “Give up, man. It’s not coming. Just move onto Dying Light.” It was that response that elicited Deep Silver to join in on the conversation:
The original naysayer responded in disbelief, asking Deep Silver not to give them false hope. The final exchange from the studio concluded with, “We’re not quite ready to talk about the latest Dead Island just yet, but when we do, you’ll see it here!”
After several changed hands, the zombie title is still shooting for an Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and PC date – which is a little odd given that next-gen is officially here. Still, perhaps it will be a cross-gen title, we honestly have no idea at this point since everyone involved had been mum about progress.
Following Dead Island 2’s reveal in 2014, the sequel fell victim to a wide variety of road bumps that affected work on the title. After a split with its previous developer and Deep Silver, production was moved to Sumo Digital in 2016. With few updates here and there, news – as mentioned before – has been scarce, though a listing for the title did appear for a short time on the Microsoft store just before E3 2018.
Now, the game is back under the publishing umbrella of Deep Silver, with Deep Silver Dambuster Studios taking the development charge.
While we await the promised update, here’s what you need to know about the first game:
“Welcome to the zombie apocalypse experience of a lifetime — and now more beautiful than ever. Caught in the midst of an epic zombie outbreak on the tropical island of Banoi, your only thought is: Survive!
Smash heads, crack skulls and slice ’em up with visceral astounding melee combat and true story-based 4 player co-op in a sprawling open world just waiting for exploration.”
What do you think about the development woes of Dead Island 2? Excited for an update, or should it stay buried? Sound off with your thoughts in the comment section below.