You’d have been forgiven for being skeptical of Dead Island 2 ahead of its recent launch, owing to its protracted and tortured development cycle and its many delays and reboots, though the action RPG has turned out to be a solid experience. As we mentioned in our review, one of the game’s biggest strengths is how focused it is, and speaking in a video recently published by IGN, creative director James Worrall explained that that was very much a pivot from the game’s original vision.
According to Worrall, the original vision for Dead Island 2 when it was unveiled in 2014 and was set to be developed by Yager was perhaps biting off more than it could chew. Worrall said, “A lot of it was perhaps, they took a too complex approach.”
He went on to say that when Dambuster Studios took over Dead Island 2’s development, it decided to take a much more focused approach and home in on what they felt were the core pillars of a Dead Island experience.
“I think a problem that’s facing games, in general, is just blossoming complexity, and it comes back to bite the studio when they’re trying to get that game out the door,” he said (transcribed by GamesRadar). “And so, early on, we just decided, ‘Right, no, just going to be people versus zombies, and we’ve got a gore engine going to make the combat really really visceral and tactile and in your face.'”
The developer has previously also confirmed that Yager’s original vision for the project was “never” used as inspiration for the final game Dambuster ended up developing. Read more on that through here.
Dead Island 2 is available on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, Xbox One, and PC. Head on over here for details on what its post-launch support will entail.