Dead Island 2 developer not looking to disappoint fans of original 2014 trailer

Dead Island 2 developer Dambuster Studios is looking to meet the high expectations set out by the game's now illustrious trailer that was first debuted at E3 way back in 2014.  

Speaking to T3 at Gamescom 2022, Dead Island 2 lead narrative designer Ayesha Khan explained that while the studio's version of the game is a "slightly different tone" from what was first shown, they stated that fans "should be pretty happy" when they finally get their hands on the release. 

The first Dead Island was released in September 2011 and was made by Techland. For the 2014 trailer, Yager Developments were hired for the sequel, however, were then removed from the project in 2015 with Sumo Digital taking over. That studio was then also removed with Dambuster, an internal studio at Deep Silver, then put in charge for the upcoming 2022 game. It's been a long time coming, so naturally, the studio says it's doing its best not to disappoint. 

Check out the original 2014 trailer below: 

"It was more the location, really. One of the franchise pillars of Dead Island has always been a paradise gone to hell," said Dead Island 2 game director David Stanton in response to how much of the vision from the 2014 trailer has remained. 

"We were thinking about the luxurious hotel resort of Banoi in the first game, and we think Los Angeles is a really rich backdrop. Not only is it a metaphorical dead island with the quarantine and not knowing what the state of the rest of America is outside of LA in the story – it’s got an amazing roster of locations, and all sorts of interesting, different characters to meet within LA. So it worked so well for us on multiple levels."

Khan then added: " I think what you’re asking is: will people who watch that trailer be disappointed in our game? I really don’t think they will be. We have a slightly different tone but it’s really in the same wheelhouse, and I think that they should be pretty happy when they get there". 

At Gamescom Opening Night Live, Dead Island 2 was re-revealed for the first time after eight years, closing the Geoff Keighley game's presentation. On the night there were also several more games trailers for Hogwarts Legacy, Lies of P, Gotham Knights, and lots of other titles coming in 2022 and beyond. 

Dead Island 2 is scheduled to launch on February 3rd, 2022, across PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X / S, Xbox One, and Microsoft Window. 

For more Gamescom 2022 coverage, check out T3's hands-on with Sonic Frontiers, impressions of The Callisto Protocol and how Supermassive Games looks to keep horror fresh now seven years on from Until Dawn.