On a recent episode of the Sacred Symbols podcast (spotted by ComicBook), host Colin Moriarty mentioned that Dead Island 2 could be shown again this year. Fans may remember seeing the Dead Island 2 trailer back at E3 2014, but then the project was canceled due to fan backlash.
Publisher Deep Silver has hinted at the return of Dead Island 2, but nothing significant has been revealed so far. If the rumors are true, the game could be revealed and also released soon in 2022, but neither Deep Silver nor developer Dambuster Studios have received any official word.
The game is a sequel to Techland’s 2011 game Dead Island which received mixed reviews, and the developer later had great success with Dying Light and its sequel.
Dead Island 2 may return in 2022
Dying Light is often considered the spiritual successor to 2011’s Dead Island, as it also incorporates elements of zombie combat, hand-to-hand combat, and parkour. However, most of the gaming community will agree that Dying Light was the more polished of the two games and that as a franchise it has lost much of the luster it had when it was introduced.
One of the more curious reasons why fans were disappointed with the 2011 game was the game’s fantastic cinematic trailer. The trailer is considered arguably one of the best game trailers ever made, but on the other hand, it greatly distorted the final product, which ended up being much lighter and more frivolous, in stark contrast to the gloomy and melancholy trailer.
Most in the community did not expect Deep Silver to release a sequel after the 2011 game, but the game was still revealed at E3 2014. If the game is released again, then the publisher should see value in IP, enough to warrant a re-disclosure of nearly 8 years later.
It will be interesting to see what Deep Silver has in store and whether Dead Island 2 can pick up steam in 2022.