Dead Island 2 was first announced at E3 2014 by Deep Silver, the game’s publisher, with a fun cinematic trailer that showed off the game’s sunny California setting. However, since then, the game has had a rocky development journey. The game’s original developer, Yager Development, was removed from the project in 2015 due to “creative differences” with the publisher, and Sumo Digital took over development in 2016. But in 2019, Deep Silver announced that it was parting ways with Sumo Digital and handing the reins of development to Dambuster Studios.
These development studio changes have led to several delays in the game’s release. The game was originally slated to release in 2015, but it has since been pushed back several times, with no clear release date in sight. In 2020, Deep Silver confirmed that the game was still in development and stated that it was aiming for a release in 2022, but later on, it was confirmed that it would be delayed until 2023.
Fans have been eagerly awaiting the release of the game for years, with some even speculating that the project has been canceled altogether. The initial release was going to be February 3rd until it was pushed back (once again) to April 28.
But then, Dambuster Studios changed the release date again. But not in the way fans have been used to.
The official Dead Island Twitter account posted a video on February 13 announcing that Dead Island 2 has finally gone gold and will be released on April 21, 2023—one week earlier than what was promised.
The cheeky announcement video included a montage of multiple comments asking about Dead Island 2 with statements like “Who wants to beat they delay it again.” and “Ok but are you ever going to release this game?!?” Dambuster Studios could not have answered it any better.
It’s only a matter of time till we can finally get our hands on Dead Island 2, nine years after it was first shown to the public. Here’s to hoping it’s not dead on arrival. Judging from the recent gameplay reveals, we’re in for one zombie-killing fun experience.
Dead Island 2 is coming to PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X / S, Xbox One, and PC via the Epic Games Store on April 21, 2023.