Dead Island 2 pushed back to April, kicking off 2023’s delay season early

By George Yang Published November 17, 2022

Dambuster studios and Deep Silver have announced that Dead Island 2 has been delayed to April 28, 2023, from its original February 3, 2023, release. The game is set to launch on PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.

“The irony of delaying Dead Island 2 is not lost on us, and we are as disappointed as you undoubtedly are,” Deep Silver explained in a statement on Twitter. The delay is just 12 short weeks and development is on the final straight now; we’re going to take the time we need to make sure we can launch a game we’re proud to launch.”

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https://twitter.com/deadislandgame/status/1593107373740146688

Deep Silver mentioned that it would show a new trailer and more gameplay footage for Dead Island 2 on December 6.

In August, Dead Island 2‘s reveal was accidentally leaked via an Amazon listing ahead of its official announcement at Gamescom. Dead Island 2 has been under development for almost a decade, which is why Deep Silver understands the irony of pushing back the release date for the game more when it has already been so long.

Dead Island 2 was one of the many games that were going to be released in February 2023 and was primarily competing with Hogwarts Legacy during the beginning of the month. Wild Hearts, Octopath Traveler II, Atomic Heart, and Like a Dragon: Ishin! are some of the other notable titles launching towards the middle and end of the month.

Surprisingly, April 2023 was virtually devoid of any big game releases, but now Dead Island 2 has changed that. It may not be long until we see other games possibly getting delayed further into 2023 as well.

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George Yang is a freelance games writer for Digital Trends. He has written for places such as IGN, GameSpot, The Washington…

Gaming

Modern Warfare 2’s new season is proof Call of Duty needs to take a year off

Main characters of Modern Warfare 2.

The eagerly anticipated second season of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 has a lot in store. It'll incorporate a new small-scale Warzone 2.0 battle royale map called Ashika Island, along with new DMZ features and a fresh set of weapons to try out. While Season 2 certainly has lots of exciting new content in the pipeline, things are looking dire for Modern Warfare 2 multiplayer, as very few new features are planned for the update.

Sure, it's nice that Warzone 2.0 and DMZ are getting so much attention during Season 2, but the latest update is a grim sign for the overall life cycle of Modern Warfare 2 -- a game that seems to have been left in the dust as Activision sprints on to its next project,
Modern Warfare 2 road map
So, what exactly is Modern Warfare 2 getting alongside Season 2? On paper, it seems like a sizeable amount. That is, until you break down what's in the works.

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Dead Island 2 avoids Star Wars Jedi clash by bumping up its release date

Dead Island 2 zombie

Dead Island 2, a game that never seemed like it was going to come out, has gone gold and even had its release date moved up by a week. Originally slated for April 28, Dead Island 2 will now be released on April 21. That means it'll launch one week before Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, which just had its release date pushed to April 28.
The developers of the LA-based zombie game revealed the news via a tweet with a video that highlights a bunch of comments asking if the game was polished and if it will actually ever be released before it confirms that Dead Island 2 has gone gold and is coming out a bit earlier than we currently expected.
https://twitter.com/deadislandgame/status/1625147886643150852
Release dates moving up instead of being delayed are a rarity, with one of the only recent examples being Xenoblade Chronicles 3. Still, the delay makes sense now that Star Wars Jedi: Survivor is coming out on April 28. This announcement also feels cathartic after Dead Island 2's rough development. The zombie sequel has notoriously been delayed significantly more than most games. Originally announced in 2014 with a Q2 2015 release window, Dead Island 2 got pushed back again and again, switching developers multiple times and slowly seeming more and more likely to become vaporware.
Deep Silver Dambuster Studios' new version of the game finally reemerged as the big final reveal of Gamescom Opening Night Live 2022, but even after that, the game got delayed one more time to April 28. Even if it's moving its release date up by just a week, the fact that Dead Island 2 has gone gold and even moved its release date up a bit feels like the satisfying end to an excruciatingly long journey. Whether it's good or not, we finally don't have to wait much longer to actually play Dead Island 2.
Dead Island 2 will be released for PC, PS4, PS4, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S on April 21.

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How to pre-order Dead Island 2: retailers, editions, and bonuses

Dead Island 2.

Some of us out there have been waiting on Dead Island 2 since 2014, when it was first revealed with a cinematic trailer. Little did we know at the time that the game would not only be delayed but that the original developers would leave the project. And then, the second team picking up where they left off would also be removed, and the game would finally land with its final team at Dambuster Studios. There are few games that can survive this long of a development cycle, and even fewer that can somehow still make it to market after passing hands so many times, and yet Dead Island 2 refuses to die.

With its re-reveal at Gamescom 2022, Dead Island 2 was quick to slap a solid release date of February 3, 2023, on the game to build some goodwill and trust among fans who have been waiting for close to a decade already. Not long after, pre-orders were launched, further cementing the fact that, yes, this game is actually coming out. Whether you've been waiting since 2014 or are just hearing about the franchise now, here are all the details on how to pre-order Dead Island 2 and what each edition comes with.