The saga of Dead Island 2 seems to finally be coming to a close, with new Amazon listings for the game indicating a February 3, 2023 release date on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X | S (and presumably PC). The details have been removed from the listings, though some juicy tidbits remain in an archived version of the page.
Much of the information correlates with what has been known about Dead Island 2 since its 2014 reveal. It shifts the setting from the fictional island of Banoi to Los Angeles, while retaining the core first-person action gameplay.
The listing suggests a deeper role-playing experience this time around, with the character roster expanded from four to six, “each with their own unique personality and dialogues.” There’s also mention of a revised skill system with a comprehensive re-spec option. It further sounds like a lot of work has been put into ensuring plenty of enemy variety, with “dozens” of different zombie archetypes and “hundreds” of variants.
Dead Island 2 is the sequel to the 2011 cult hit, which first caught the public’s attention with one of the most memorable game trailers we’ve ever seen. However, it’s been a long road to release. While Techland (Dying Light) created the first game, the sequel was originally being handled by Spec Ops: The Line team Yager Development. In 2016, Sumo Digital (Crackdown 3) took over, only to be replaced by Dambuster Studios (Homefront: The Revolution) in 2019.
It’s been a long road to the finish line. We’ll know in a few short months if it’s been worth the wait.
Yesterday, Amazon leaked another game, New Tales from the Borderlands.
