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Dead Island 2 release date listing suggests zombie game lives

A Dead Island 2 release date listing on Amazon suggests the zombie game is still alive and set to release in February 2023, nine years after it was announced

Dead Island - a man lounges on a chair with a cocktail in one hand, a katana resting against his shoulder

The appearance of a Dead Island 2 release date listing on Amazon marks the latest time the zombie game has burst a dishevelled arm through the upcoming games calendar, and suggests that it could be arriving as soon as February 2023. Publisher THQ Nordic and its parent company Embracer Group have repeatedly reiterated that Dead Island 2 is still in development after its disappearance following an initial announcement in 2014.

Since then, the game has changed developers multiple times, and tips earlier this year from Embracer CEO Lars Wingefors hinted that the game could arrive by the end of the current financial year (which ends at the end of March 2023). In 2020, an old development build leaked of the game from the time when Yager was in charge of development. Now, a brand new Amazon listing highlighted by Twitter user Wario64 suggests that the game could be arriving on February 3, 2023. The release date has since been removed from the listing.

The “Day One Edition” listed for both PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 consoles promises a handful of in-game cosmetics, as well as a baseball bat and a weapon perk. An Epic Games document made public during the Epic vs Apple trial in 2019 suggested that Dead Island 2 will be an Epic Games store exclusive – following in the footsteps of the Saints Row reboot that is launching as a timed exclusive on the platform.

The initial Amazon listing included a full description, which describes Dead Island 2 as “a thrilling first-person action RPG that takes players across iconic, gore-drenched Los Angeles.” The page also suggested that the RPG game will feature six playable characters with full customisable abilities and the ability to re-spec your skills instantly.

Currently, the game is in the hands of Dambuster, an internal studio under Embracer and THQ Nordic subsidiary Deep Silver. Most recently, the game’s 2014 announce trailer, which saw a figure jogging down a sunny boardwalk infested with zombies, was parodied at Summer Game Fest 2022 to announce “much-anticipated sequel” Goat Simulator 3.

It seems, then, that we might finally see what Dead Island 2 is sooner rather than later. However, with how often this project has been bumped around and pushed back, we won’t count our zombie chickens until they’re hatched. In the meantime, new Dying Light 2 DLC adds Mad Max brawls to the FPS game, if you’re hankering for more zombie action.