Time for a separate thread about this game. You watched the trailer during E3, right? It’s fun. Here’s the PR:
The zombie apocalypse has hit the iconic, sunny realms of California as Deep Silver announced Dead Island® 2 today. Building on the strengths of the multi-million best-selling hit Dead Island, Dead Island 2 delivers a shared survival, open-world zombie experience set in a clash of natural beauty and bloody horror and violence: paradise meets hell once again! Developed by award-winning studio Yager, Dead Island 2 is scheduled for release in spring 2015 on Xbox One, the all-in-one games and entertainment system from Microsoft, PlayStation®4 and PC.
Several months after the events on Banoi, the United States military has put the Golden State under full quarantine. Now a restricted zone, California has become a bloody paradise for those who refuse to leave their homes and an action-packed playground for renegades who seek adventure, glory and a fresh start. Combining the classic Dead Island elements of immersive close combat, action and role-playing, Dead Island 2 features crazy, never-before-seen handcrafted weapons and over-the-top characters in taking players from the iconic Golden Gate to the celebrated beachfront boardwalk of southern California’s Venice Beach.
Developed in Unreal Engine 4, Dead Island 2 brings back its acclaimed, seamless multiplayer for up to eight players who cooperate, compete or simply coexist in a truly social, new-gen multiplayer experience. Dedicated classes offer a variety of gameplay: From the action-oriented berserker to the stealthy hunter, every character offers a different style of play. An in-depth skill system allows the player to handcraft their own heroes and weapons.
California! Vast exploration and outlandish survival, welcome to the Golden State as zombie playground.
Characters! Choose from an elite crew of heroes who are immune to the zombie virus and eager to run headfirst into the apocalypse.
Combat! Fight against hordes of zombies as well as human enemies – visceral melee combat at its best.
Crafting! From motorized grinders to electric machetes, decide how you want to dismember these zombies.
Co-op! Seamless zombie multiplayer evolved for up to 8 players, letting you drop in and out of shared survival adventures.
Thanks for the link. That was really nice. Not as good as the iconic trailer for the original game, but pretty cool. I wonder if I’ll hate the actual Dead Island 2 as much as I hated the original though? It was a lot more fun playing it vicariously through the Qt3 games podcasts. I remember that summer Chick and McMaster discussed Dead Island in detail in at least 3 podcast episodes, maybe more. Those were a lot more fun than the game turned out to be.
Dead Island 2 developer Yager dropped by publisher Deep Silver.
"With Dead Island 2, Deep Silver has always been dedicated to delivering the sequel that Dead Island fans deserve,” Deep Silver said. “After careful consideration, today we announce the decision to part ways with development partner Yager. We will continue working towards bringing our vision of Dead Island 2 to life, and we will share further information at a later stage.”
It was delayed earlier this year. Deep Silver even gave away Dead Island 2 beta keys last year for people who bought Escape Dead Island (lol). I hope Yager don’t fold after this.
Different EuroGamer network sites have more infos:
GI.biz:
UPDATE: Timo Ullmann, managing director of Yager Development, has said that the company’s departure from Dead Island 2 was down to a difference in vision.
In a statement issued to GamesIndustry.biz, Ullmann reiterated the company’s commitment to both AAA development and its own independence - an increasingly difficult double-act in the modern games industry.
“Our team is made of the best creative minds and tech specialists, who all share a common identity,” he said. “The team worked with enthusiasm to take Dead Island 2 to a new level of quality. However, Yager and Deep Silver’s respective visions of the project fell out of alignment, which led to the decision that has been made.”
Yager has another game in development, Dreadnought, with Grey Box attached as a publisher, but Ullman also confirmed the existence of one or more unannounced projects.
"All I can reveal at this point is that Gamescom will be awesome,” he said.
EG.de heard rumors about layoffs at Yager. It seems the majority of the Dead Island team has been layed off or will be layed off. (This takes a couple of weeks or months in Germany, depending on time at the company.)
Human Head did the same thing after Bethesda attempted to acquire them through milestone abuse during the Prey 2 fallout. They made a bunch of companies (Large Shaggy Dog, Bifrost Games, and Nine Realms) so they could continue to operate without violating any contract clauses or exposing themselves to legal risk.
I feel very sorry for the Dead Island 2 team. 3 years is a long time to spend on a project. Almost all of them will be let go.
Wouldn’t be overly surprised if the good part of the team gets to keep working for them in some capacity. The management knows how to somehow keep a team floating. They survived almost 5 years of just going from pitch to pitch after their debut title (Yager) until 2K signed them for Spec Ops: The Line. The company was notably smaller prior Spec Ops: The Line, but the post-release phase wasn’t a cakewalk either.
Hey, guess what? Deep Silver says Dead Island 2 is still coming.
[quote]
“Dead Island 2 is in development at Sumo Digital, and we are excited by the progress the team are making with Deep Silver’s most successful IP. When we are ready to share more information, we will.”[/quote]
At this point, Techlands Dying Light is clearly the best of the zombie games, and Im certain its based on how well recieved that one was, that DI 2 is delayed. I do hope they rise to the occasion, though!
