Overkill’s ‘The Walking Dead’ FPS Game Delayed To Make It Bigger
PayDay developer Overkill Software revealed in 2014 it was working on The Walking Dead co-op first-person shooter based on The Walking Dead comic book. A planned release date on the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC in 2016 has fallen by the wayside, but for a good reason. Overkill parent Starbreeze Studios now says the shooter based on the hit zombie franchise will launch in the second half of 2017.
The delay of Overkill’s The Walking Dead comes thanks to an infusion of money into Starbreeze from Smilegate. The Korean gaming company is investing $40 million into Starbreeze and part of that deal is to distribute titles such as PayDay 2 and Overkill’s The Walking Dead in Asia. It also presents an opportunity to go bigger with the latter.
“OVERKILL’s The Walking Dead will be expanded with more content where an Asian version will be developed for simultaneous launch with the western version,” Starbreeze Studios announced. “To maximize the new opportunities, Starbreeze, 505 Games and Skybound have decided to release the game in all markets during the second half of 2017. The partners are convinced this will pave the way to success, maximize revenues and cement it as a tent pole product for the next decade to come.”
There is little known about Overkill’s The Walking Dead. The following trailer was released alongside the announcement, but it contained only a single, off-screen gunshot that splattered blood on the wall. A location for the game was confirmed, however, courtesy of the now dated “In 2016, Washington will fall” tagline.
Additional details were revealed from the original press release announcement explaining the goal of the game.
“OVERKILL’s The Walking Dead is a co-op first person shooter with elements of action, role-playing, survival horror and stealth, that invites players to explore the hugely popular The Walking Dead universe, where they will play the role of survivors fending for themselves in a post-apocalyptic world dominated by flesh-eating walkers.”
The game also has the blessing of The Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman. He said, “From day one on this project it’s been clear to me that this is the Walking Dead co-op action game fans have been waiting for. I can’t wait for people to learn just what OVERKILL has been cooking up for this game.”
This won’t be the first time a first-person shooter has been tried for The Walking Dead. Activision released The Walking Dead: Survival Instinct to the PS3, Xbox 360, PC in 2013 featuring Daryl and Merle Dixon from the AMC television series. It was a stinker, though, earning a Metacritic score in the 30s. The game was roundly criticized for just about every aspect of the game.
Overkill is not using the AMC TV universe of The Walking Dead for its title. Instead, it is using the richer comic book universe. The “Washington will fall” tagline, combined with the comic book universe, suggests this game could be following multiple characters from the comic around the time of the zombie outbreak.
The human conflict side of The Walking Dead has always been the strength of the franchise. It should be interesting to see if Overkill is able to deliver on that end of Overkill’s The Walking Dead.
What do you think about the delay of Overkill’s The Walking Dead to add more content? Sound off in the comments below.
[Image via Overkill Software]
