Highlights

  • Dead Island 2's success exceeded the low expectations set for a sequel to an old game, which had an engaging story, intense combat, and memorable characters.
  • The upcoming DLC for Dead Island 2, SOLA Festival, needs to provide closure to the base game's open-ended conclusion.
  • If SOLA Festival fails to resolve the cliffhanger and tie up loose ends, Dead Island 3 may be set in Los Angeles again rather than a new location, which may feel repetitive.

Dambuster Studios' Dead Island 2 was undoubtedly one of the biggest surprises of 2023. As the sequel to a game over a decade old, it wasn't expected to be much, but that is precisely what led to its success. Such modest expectations thus allowed it to rise to the occasion and deliver an engaging story with intense combat, satisfying physics, and memorable characters. Last November, Dead Island 2 received its first DLC, Haus, and another titled SOLA Festival is still on the way, currently scheduled for a Q2 2024 release.

While Dead Island 2: Haus ended on a rather bizarre note, the cliffhanger at the end of the base game's story still deserves some much-needed closure. Unfortunately, this puts immense pressure on the upcoming SOLA DLC to clear up the base game's open-ended conclusion, especially if Dambuster follows through with its desire to develop Dead Island 3​​​​​​. Specifically, Dead Island 3 will be in a rather awkward position if SOLA's ending doesn't somehow resolve the final moments of Dead Island 2's main narrative.

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Dead Island 3's New Location Needs Dead Island 2's Story to End With SOLA Festival

The end of Dead Island 2's main narrative was emotional and exhilarating, but it left players with a huge cliffhanger originally believed to set up Dead Island 3. However, with the release of Haus and the upcoming release of SOLA Festival, the final events of Dead Island 2's story may somehow be connected to Haus and SOLA instead. Unfortunately, Haus' ending didn't seem to wrap up Dead Island 2's story at all, and instead offered more cause for confusion. The hope, then, is that SOLA will make up for what Haus lacked and tie up the loose ends left by Dead Island 2's conclusion. Otherwise, Dead Island 3 may be stuck in HELL-A once again, rather than being set in a new location.

Dead Island 2 : SOLA Festival does not yet have a confirmed release date, but an April 2024 release is probable considering Dead Island 2 was released in April 2023.

At the end of Dead Island 2's main story, Sam, Emma, and Patton are all seen fleeing Los Angeles via helicopter while the player character commits to staying until they find Tisha. As the player character watches the three friends fly to safety, the image of a crosshair aiming directly at the player appears on-screen, with Thurston saying, "Just think it, and it's done." Konradt and Cadenza then appear behind Thurston and Konradt asks the player character why they chose to stick around. The player character responds with "To save Tisha" and then makes their way through the horde of zombies with ease, and the story comes to an end.

The cliffhanger for Dead Island 2's ending is ultimately found in Konradt's remark after the player character confirms the reasoning behind their choice to stay behind. Although the player character says that they chose to stay behind to save Tisha, Konradt still replies, "That the only reason?" This implies the player character had other intentions behind staying in Los Angeles, and it likely has something to do with their recent discovery about the connection between the Numen and the cure for the outbreak. SOLA needs to clear this part up before Dead Island 3. If it doesn't, Dead Island 3 will undoubtedly take place in Los Angeles once again to properly resolve Dead Island 2's story.

The only other way a new location for Dead Island 3 would make sense is if Tisha happened to escape Los Angeles at some point and the player character followed. However, that's highly unlikely to happen given the circumstances. Whatever ends up happening, some sort of closure could arrive in the upcoming SOLA Festival DLC — ideally not only setting up Dead Island 3's story but also justifying a brand-new location.