Dead Island 2 Might Never Cross The Finish Line
Ted Hentschke
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It seems that Dead Island 2 might be dead in the water. Publisher Deep Silver has decided to part ways with developer YAGER, known for the phenomenal title Spec Ops: The Line. I’ve gone on record saying that Dead Island is one of those games that people only pretend to like, and the illustrious Escape Dead Island holds the vaunted title of worst game I ever managed to beat. I haven’t played the Dead Island: Epidemic, because at this point putting “MOBA” and “Dead Island” in the same sentence holds about as much appeal as marrying “razorblades” and “herpes sores.”
The only faith I had in the project came from the creative vision of YAGER, whose standard military shooter Spec Ops: The Line managed to single-handedly redefine what we can expect from the narrative depth of a standard military shooter. It’s a game that made me take stock of exactly what I was doing with my creative talents, and reevaluate what I thought of war, companionship, and video game storytelling. Considering that The Line was in development for an estimated bazillion years (somewhere between 9 and 5, depending on your consideration of a start date), I figured that this title had some real hope of being a thoughtful, well crafted masterpiece that finally brought the emotional depth that the series deserved.
I guess we’ll never know what could have been, since the publishers of the “love it because you hate it” Risen series have decided that YAGER was just not living up to their lofty expectations. They prepared this statement to explain the decision:
“With Dead Island 2, Deep Silver has always been dedicated to delivering the sequel that Dead Island fans deserve. 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.”
YAGER CEO Tim Ullmann has added their perspective to the split:
“We work closely with international publishers and partners and have at the same time always remained an independent development studio. Our team is made of the best creative minds and tech specialists who all share a common identity. 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.”
I never thought I’d be the one bemoaning the demise of a Dead Island game, but this really is a major blow to horror gaming fans. First Silent Hills, now Dead Island 2. This comes off the back of the game being pushed out of the calendar year, so it’s pretty easy to speculate why its been canned. In their 12 years of existence, YAGER has produced a whopping 3 games, with the anticipated Dreadnaught releasing sometime in the (near?) future. With a company like Deep Silver who perpetually pushes out titles in a what some would describe as less than finished state, the constantly moving deadline spelled doom for the project.
Now, I’m not at all trying to fault Deep Silver here for adhering to a production schedule. Development hell costs money, and a game as big as Dead Island 2 taking years past the original goal to develop costs a whole lot of money. If this is the case, I totally understand Deep Silvers decision to pull the product to retain its financial viability. I’m just sad that I won’t experience a Dead Island world with as much narrative depth as YAGER can bring to the table. Lets hope that the new final product, likely coming some time after 2016, lives up to the promise of what this game could have been.
Categorized:Horror Gaming News
