People may be forgiven for forgetting that that Dead Island 2 exists. First announced back in 2014, the game has suffered numerous delays since then, all the while slowly slipping out of the limelight. Now, THQ Nordic confirmed that despite all that’s happened, Dead Island 2 is still in development.
THQ Nordic acquired Dead Island 2 publisher Deep Silver’s parent company Koch Media last year. Now, it seems that the company is still keen to continue development on the game despite its troubles and setbacks.
Talking to IGN, THQ Nordic CEO Lars Wingefors stated that “Dead Island 2 [is] still being worked on. Stay tuned.” Additionally, the company also included the game’s logo in a recent earnings report.
When Dead Island 2 was first announced back in 2014, Yager Development, the studio behind Spec Ops the Line, was supposed to be working on it. However, Deep Silver parted ways with them a year later, handing over development duties to Sumo Digital.
Since then, Deep Silver and Sumo have delayed the game multiple times. It eventually came to the point where the game no longer had a set release date. The latest news we heard about the game was that its release date would be revealed at a “later stage.”
Of course, the game’s delays may not have been surprising to anyone who played the initial builds. Our own preview from 2014 stated that it had “repetitive zombies, glitches, and a story that disintegrated.” What’s surprising now is that Sumo and THQ Nordic are still keen on getting the game out.
That said, THQ Nordic’s involvement could be the reason why the game is still in production. The company has been bolstering its portfolio with a number of studio purchases, and has quite a number of games in production. THQ Nordic getting the sequel to the still fondly remembered original back on track could be a good PR boost for the company.
The question remains however of when THQ Nordic will finally show Dead Island 2 to the public again. The company will supposedly make some announcements regarding well loved franchises at E3 2019. Perhaps the game will rise from its grave then.
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