Reminder: Dead Island 2 is still a thing and is still coming

Just in case you were worried about it, publisher Deep Silver wants to remind you that Dead Island 2 is still real. And it’s still coming… at some point.

Not quite dead yet

So how ‘not dead’ is Dead Island 2? Well according to Deep Silver, it’s still very much in development. Though I have to add that I wouldn’t blame you if you weren’t inclined to believe that. It has, after all, been somewhat of a bumpy ride.

Website Eurogamer did a report on the title yesterday, and filled in the game’s recent history, which is about as clear as milk. About a year ago was the last that we heard about the game in fact. That’s when Sumo Digital was named the new developer. That came after the original devs at Yager were dropped. The reason for that was never all that clear either unfortunately, though Eurogamer notes that that wing of the developer was forced to file for bankruptcy shortly after the news broke.

So what’s happening with the game now? Well, not anything that Deep Silver wants to talk about. They’ve gone on record with the above site, but only in the most nebulous of ways. They confirm that the game is still in development and that they’re still “excited by the progress” that Sumo is making with it. They also acknowledge that the series is the biggest in the Deep Silver stable, which is a good thing I think.

That alone should play any fears that fans might have of seeing the series shelved.

That said, the game itself was supposed to be out several years back. And there’s a startlingly small amount of info on it currently… in fact, there’s nothing. I can’t imagine that there’s a ton of confidence from anyone that it’ll see the light of day any time soon. Personally, I can’t imagine it.

Unless of course, DS has a big surprise planned for E3 this June. Maybe they’re looking to make a splash and shock the gaming world with another stellar trailer? Maybe Dead Island 2 is actually -secretly- on track for release this Fall/Holiday? That’d really be something, wouldn’t it?

Then again, maybe not. Maybe it’s entering that level of development hell where no one talks about it for a long time, only cursory statements are made, and eventually everyone forgets it was ever coming. We’ll see. That still wouldn’t mean that the franchise itself is gone and never to retain though.

I could easily see DS scrapping this one and staring fresh. But that’s a guess, and I have no idea what’s happening in reality with it. So basically, at this point, stay tuned.

Source: Eurogamer