Probably because, and I'm just guessing here, it didn't quite know either.Īt this point, Dead Island 2 development was given to the internal Dambusters studio. Deep Silver was being, perhaps understandably, non-committal about exactly what had been going on, and whether we'd see the game in one year or five. Things went quiet for around a year, until rumours of development troubles led to Deep Silver issuing a holding statement about development being ongoing, a process that was repeated in 2018 when a Dead Island mobile spinoff was released and prompted more questions about the sequel.Ī THQ financial report in 2019 finally blew the lid: Sumo Digital was no longer on the project. But that's just scuttlebutt, because there's surprisingly little public information about what went on with Dead Island 2 over its three years with Sumo. Sumo Digital's version of Dead Island 2 was apparently something of a zombie project itself, with the British studio charged with taking the foundations of Yager's work and building on it to Deep Silver's expectations. 'We're looking forward to exceeding fan expectation with an ambitious design that we're confident will take bone-crunching, visceral, zombie action to a whole new level.' 'It's an honour to be charged with the evolution of such an important franchise in Deep Silver’s catalogue,' said Sumo COO Paul Porter. In March 2016, it was announced that British developer Sumo Digital would be taking over development of the title. Given that it seems Yager was expecting, or perhaps hoping against hope, to ship the game, I'd wager that this version of Dead Island 2 wasn't bad but just risked being another Riptide, and Deep Silver didn't want to kill the golden goose. At the time, Dead Island was the biggest-selling brand in Deep Silver's history, with multiple spinoffs in development as well as the sequel, and there must have been a feeling at the publisher that this game might mess things up.

This was clearly a game that could have been brought to market, but wasn't. 'A THQ financial report in 2019 finally blew the lid: Sumo Digital was no longer on the project.' Five years after its cancellation, a playable build dating from just one month prior somehow leaked into the wild, and everyone could finally see that, yup, it sure seemed like a Dead Island game. That wasn't the end for Yager's version of Dead Island 2, however. Cancellation of projects, especially if the stakes are so high, is not unheard of. that hurts, you know? Right after the announcement a part of the team was a bit shell-shocked, of course, but you have to motivate yourself to keep going. 'It's tough, and not being given the chance to finish Dead Island 2, that. 'I really don't blame them, and we wish them all the best,' said Ullmann. Over half of those involved with the game lost their jobs, with others leaving Yager, bitter that the project they'd worked on would never see the light of day. Everybody involved loses.'ĭead Island 2's cancellation led to the closure of Yager Productions, a division of the company created specifically to work on the game. 'It really is the worst possible outcome. 'Having a project cancelled in such a late state is a catastrophic event on so many different levels,' Ullmann told. Exactly how close we'll come to, but a few months after the cancellation was announced, Ullmann was more forthcoming about the effect Dead Island 2 had on Yager. Yager had, however, been working on Dead Island 2 for three years by this point and, while not complete, the game was close to being finished.

'However, Yager and Deep Silver's respective visions of the project fell out of alignment, which led to the decision that has been made.' 'The team worked with enthusiasm to take Dead Island 2 to a new level of quality,' wrote Timo Ullmann at the time, MD of Yager Group. Contact me with news and offers from other Future brands Receive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over. Sign up to get the best content of the week, and great gaming deals, as picked by the editors.

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