Techland’s scrappy 2011 zombie title Dead Island may have had its share of technical issues, but it helped pave the way towards the studio’s ability to create true AAA games. Once Dead Island 2 was announced in 2014, fans were prepared for the masterpiece it could become, fixing the first title’s bugs while improving on an already solid formula. Sadly, the development of Dead Island 2 has been anything but smooth, switching studios three times over the years. According to industry insider Tom Henderson however, the game could actually be closer than we think.
“According to everyone that I’ve been speaking to… the game is in a decent state and it could be announced pretty soon with some kind of gameplay trailer,” Henderson said in a new YouTube video. “A release date expected to be somewhere in Q4 2022, possibly leading up to next year if there are any problems with the development cycle.”
Yager Development was originally hired to develop Dead Island 2 in 2012, but was removed from the project in 2015. Sumo Digital took over in 2016, but they would also be replaced with Dambuster, an internal studio of Deep Silver, in 2019.
Henderson also commented briefly on the sequel’s story. “You’re on a plane and there’s a zombie outbreak on a plane… eventually the plane crashes into Hollywood, you survive and it’s then your job to survive on the ground.” The first title was set on the fictional island of Banoi off the coast of Papua New Guinea.
Dead Island 2 does not currently have a release window. While the game was initially expected to be released on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, new rumors have surfaced implying that it may launch on current-gen consoles as well. It is also rumored to be an Epic Games Store exclusive on PC. In 2020, a leaked version of the game from 2015 made its way online.
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