‘Dead Island 2’ Release Date Delayed To Later 2016, ‘Dying Light’ Parkour May Be Added, ‘Definitive Collection’ Coming

The Dead Island 2 release date appeared to be gone and buried when developer Yager Studios was given the proverbial pink slip after having nearly finished the game. Deep Silver didn’t feel Yager was taking the game in the right direction, and the two have since parted ways.

Now, Deep Silver has teamed up with UK developer Sumo Digital, who may be breathing new life into the zombie-killing sequel with queues taken from Dying Light. This is almost ironic considering that Dying Light was inspired by the people behind the original Dead Island and its follow-up Riptide. Considered a spiritual successor to Dead Island, Techland’s last zombie game found new life itself with The Following‘s Extended Edition, which added new gameplay elements, better visuals, and the ability to rack up zombie giblets in your grill with the dune buggy.

Dying Light proved to be successful enough that when Techland hosted a contest around the new dune buggy, console and PC gamers stepped up and slaughtered not only zombies, but the initial goal of 5 million dead. The final results recorded over three times as many, mostly contributed by PlayStation 4 gamers.

The success of Techland’s spiritual successor may have given Deep Silver hope that Dead Island 2‘s release date could be even better. Alongside the weapon crafting which made the original game such a sleeper hit, as well as zombie types which forced you to use strategy to take them out, Dying Light added parkour.

The possible parkour element might even fix one of Dead Island‘s biggest problems, even if it might turn it into a first-person Assassin’s Creed with zombies. Many times, the GPS display on the map gave directions which were impossible to follow, because sometimes you had to go over something you couldn’t. Parkour could fix that issue, giving the player a way over those previously impossible obstacles.

The Dead Island 2 release date appears to be in the hands of a developer who wants to make it as satisfying as possible. Sumo Digital COO Paul Porter is excited at the opportunity to make it a hit in 2016.

“It’s an [honor] to be charged with the evolution of such an important franchise in Deep Silver’s catalog. We’re looking forward to exceeding fan expectation with an ambitious design that we’re confident will take bone-crunching, visceral, zombie action to a whole new level.”

Considering the abilities of the current generation of consoles, we might even see more customization, like with the vehicles. Dying Light already lets you weaponize them, but it could go so much further, as Mad Max fans could tell you. In Warner Bros. Games’ Mad Max, you can arm your car with harpoons, side burners, and exploding projectiles, which are often used to take out warboys when they come after you.

Definitive Editions are coming to PS4, Xbox One & PC on May 31 as standalones (digital) and bundle (digital/retail)!https://t.co/tSoqp9twar

— Dead Island (@deadislandgame) March 8, 2016

For gamers who still miss the original Dead Island‘s gameplay, the Dead Island 2 release date might arrive a while after an announcement by the game’s official Twitter account. The Dead Island Definitive Collection is on its way, finally giving PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC owners a chance to double-tap zombies without needing to wait for the Xbox One to become backwards compatible with them. It will be available in retail and downloadable formats as a collection or as Dead Island Definitive Editions, so we’ll have plenty to do before the Dead Island 2 release date arrives.

Are you ready to bust some zombie heads all over again on May 31 when the Dead Island Definitive Collection hits, and again on the Dead Island 2 release date later this year?

[Feature image via Dead Island 2/Deep Silver]