Dead Island 2 Developer “Never” Used Yager’s Original Trailer as Inspiration

Dead Island 2 is finally out, but the road to launch has been a long and bumpy one for the zombie action RPG. It was first announced nearly a decade ago, back in 2014, and at the time, prior to multiple delays and developer changes, it was set to be developed by Spec Ops: The Line developer Yager. That, of course, didn’t pan out, and Dambuster Studios would go on to take the project’s reins- and the final project, according to the studio, ended up deviating from Yager’s vision quite a bit.

Speaking in a recent interview with GamesIndustry, Dead Island 2 game director David Stenton said that though the game does indeed have a little but in common with that original 2014 trailer in terms of tone, Dambuster Studios didn’t really use that as inspiration for the final product, and instead wanted to craft its own vision of the game.

“It’s interesting to look back on that Yager trailer that everybody enjoys,” Stenton said. “And, frankly, there are some similarities between the tone of that trailer and our own version of Dead Island 2. But we never used that as inspiration. We didn’t sit down and say: ‘Oh, we really like this trailer, so we’re going to carry along the spirit of that’. There are significant differences between what we’re doing and what Yager were doing back then.”

In our review of Dead Island 2, we awarded it a score of 8/10, saying, “Dead Island 2 isn’t ground-breaking, but it’s a hell of a lot of fun. With its vibrant yet bloody take on the undead streets of LA, its brutal and enjoyable combat, and its gleeful excess of gore, it delivers a solid experience that’s well worth your time.” Read the full review through here.

Dead Island 2 is available on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, Xbox One, and PC.