Former Deep Silver executive Martin Wein has recently shared some details about the development ofDead Island 2, claiming that the first version of the project was so bad it would have “killed the franchise.” Luckily, gamers got to play the actualDead Island 2instead of this version, but it took a long time for the game to come out.
With the success of the firstDead Island, released in 2011,Dead Island 2was announced with a trailer in 2014. The trailer was generally well-received by gamers, but the title did not do well internally, changing hands from Yager Development to Sumo Digital, then Deep Silver’s internal studio Dambuster.
Now, former Deep Silver head of communications Martin Wein has shared more about the development of the original version ofDead Island 2during a panel at Develop: Brighton (viaGamesIndustry.biz). According to the executive, the team had access to the game soon after the E3 reveal, and “the game sucked,” having nothing to do with what made the originalDead Islandfun. The team commissioned playtesting to see how it would fare and got “horrific feedback,” which led Deep Silver to delay the title, and then change studio when the team decided to “follow their own vision” rather than the feedback. According to Wein, these are tough decisions, as the team could have put out a bad game. “It might have made some money, but it would have killed the franchise.”
It might have made some money, but it would have killed the franchise.
Despite these development issues,Dead Island 2was finally released in 2023. In the end,Dead Island 2gained positive to mixed reviews, maintaining an average critic score of 75 onOpenCritic.
The zombie apocalypse action game also managed to become quite successful after its release.Dead Island 2reportedly sold over 4 million unitsby February 2025, less thanDead Island 1, which sold over 5 million copies, but still a significant number.
At the moment, there’s no official announcement about a possibleDead Island 3, but the success of the previous game may lead to a sequel eventually.Dead Island 2received a major update last year, but the title seems mostly done by now, so it’s possible that the studio could already be thinking of a sequel. In any case, time will tell whether fans will see another game in the series anytime soon, or if they may end up waiting another decade for it.
