10 Promising Video Game Sequels Stuck In Development Hell
9. Dead Island 2
While not as widely acclaimed as the other many zombie games, Dead Island cultivated a moderately sized fanbase who have been left waiting a full decade for a new release. Dead Island 2 has been stuck in development hell for a while now, having been bumped between developers several times.
While production was meant for Techland at first, this Polish studio went on to develop Dying Light instead. This was arguably the most critical dampener to Dead Island's follow-up as it was now expected to compete with another big-name zombie title.
In 2012, Yager Interactive pitched to Deep Silver and got the green light, but their progress on Dead Island 2 was painfully slow. It was demonstrated at Sony's E3 presser in 2014 and also at Gamescom that same year. After that however, things started to trudge along. The many zombie games on the market certainly didn't help the production process.
In 2015, Yager was dropped as developer and the game was moved to Dambuster Studios. At best, we recently saw a leaked version of the game Yager was working on make its way to the internet earlier in 2020. Outside of that, Dead Island 2 is still nowhere to be found and remains locked away somewhere in Dambuster's Nottingham-based studio.