Deep Silver's Dead Island series has held an interesting space in gaming culture. First announced in 2006, the original Dead Island experienced numerous delays and wasn't released until 2011. Its cinematic trailer may have been controversial thanks to its use of a dead child, but it nonetheless had a massive impact on the community, and it helped to build high levels of anticipation for the game. Despite an impressive trailer and much excitement for its release, Dead Island came out to fairly mixed reviews, and the series has had a turbulent ride ever since, especially when it comes to Dead Island 2.
There have been some sequels in the intervening years, as well as Dead Island: Definitive Edition released in 2016, but a spin-off MOBA and a mobile game were also cancelled before they could launch. Fans of the franchise have been waiting patiently for another mainline sequel, and they thought they were getting one when Dead Island 2 was announced in 2014. However, thanks to internal issues, multiple changing hands, and other delays, players still have no idea when Dead Island 2 will finally be released. Unsurprisingly, the developer has a challenging road ahead if it wants to try and restore faith in the title and start building the hype once again.
A Fresh Wave Of Interest
It's not often that a game's trailer ends up sparking interest in another franchise entirely, but that's what's happened after the release of the trailer for Goat Simulator 3. The whacky, chaotic goat game has brought the long-floundering Dead Island 2 back to the forefront of gaming conversations thanks to its newest trailer, which aped an initial glimpse at the zombie game from way back in 2014.
Goat Simulator 3 copied the same setup, as a preening runner got ready for their jog before setting off across the sunny promenade. With their music blasting loudly and their attention focused on their exercise, the jogger is oblivious to the goat-fuelled mayhem that surrounds them until it's too late. It's almost a shot for shot parody of Dead Island 2's 2014 trailer, and has served the dual purpose of advertising Goat Simulator 3 and reigniting interest in the yet-to-be-released zombie title.
Rebuilding Fan Excitement
Dambuster Studios and Deep Silver have an interesting opportunity to start building hype once again, thanks to a completely different series. This is basically free marketing for Dead Island 2, and it would be silly for the developer not to capitalize on it. Many think the time is right for Dead Island 2 to be re-revealed, with rumors indicating that it could happen before the end of the year. That being said, there are some things that Deep Silver and Dambuster Studios should be careful of.
Thanks to the years of development hell that Dead Island 2 seems to have been languishing in, it's understandable that fans will be wary of further delays. Dead Island 2 needs a clear release date and solid plans to stick to it, or else it'll risk alienating players further with broken promises and false hope. It's clear the game has been through a rough patch, so the developer needs to be transparent about any further issues and should avoid announcing the game too early or over-promising on anything that will be difficult to deliver.
The Dead Island games haven't shied away from bold marketing strategies in the past, with emotive if slightly controversial trailers and other similar aspects. The next trailer for Dead Island 2 needs to turn heads as well as show off what the game has to offer, focusing on what sets it apart from the deluge of other zombie-related titles out there. With its colorful aesthetic and mix of sunshine and slaughter, it already has a fairly unique angle, but in order to keep the attention of fans and start to generate hype again, Dead Island 2 really needs to come out swinging.
Dead Island 2 is reportedly in development.