People are downloading and playing a five-year-old build of Dead Island 2.
The build, which reportedly emerged on the V board of 4Chan, is playable, although there are placeholder assets throughout. It is dated June 2015. Footage from it is popping up all over YouTube:
Watch on YouTube Watch on YouTube
Eurogamer has verified this build is the work of Spec Ops: The Line maker Yager, which was tasked by publisher Deep Silver with making the zombie sequel before both parties split amid creative differences in July 2015.
In March 2016, Deep Silver announced UK studio Sumo Digital had taken on Dead Island 2. Then, in August 2019, Deep Silver announced it had brought development in-house at Homefront: The Revolution maker Dambuster Studios.
Dead Island 2 has been in the works for quite some time, then, and has clearly suffered a rocky development as it’s shifted between three studios. It was first announced at E3 2014 with an eye-catching trailer that, well, is certainly quite the watch today.
Dead Island 2 – Official Announce Trailer (E3 2014) Watch on YouTube
What we’d seen of Dead Island 2 showed it as colourful and crazy – an eight-player multiplayer zombie riot in sunny LA. It was playable by press at events throughout the second half of 2014, at a time when the game was due out spring 2015. But in April 2015 it was delayed to 2016, suggesting major problems were afoot.
Dead Island 2 Gameplay from Gamescom 2014 in 1080p Watch on YouTube
Dead Island 2 is still without a release date, but Koch Media boss Klemens Kundratitz recently insisted it was still important for the company.
“My favourite question,” Kundratitz said when our friends at GamesIndustry.biz asked for an update on the beleaguered zombie sequel. “Look, Dead Island is a very important brand for us and we’ve got to get it right. It’s just a testimony of our dedication to get it right.