Dead Island 2 was announced all the way back in 2014, and its development has been anything but smooth. The game was originally announced with Spec Ops: The Line studio Yager announced as the developer.
But in 2015, publisher Deep Silver announced that it was parting ways with Yager, and it was later confirmed that Sumo Digital would be taking over as the lead developer.
Deep Silver was later acquired by THQ Nordic, which is now the publisher of Dead Island 2. This week, THQ Nordic announced earnings, and it included an image of Dead Island 2's logo. This suggested that the game is still in the works, and THQ Nordic CEO Lars Wingefors confirmed it.
"Dead Island 2 [is] still being worked on. Stay tuned," he said (via IGN).
That's all Wingefors had to say on the subject of Dead Island 2. There is no word as of yet as to when Dead Island 2 may resurface or what changes might be
Also during the call, Wingefors talked about THQ Nordic's massive development pipeline. He said the company has 80 projects in the works, including 32 titles that have been announced and 48 that are unannounced. The unannounced titles include new games from Kingdom Come studio Warhorse, Saints Row developer Volition, and Metro dev 4A Games.
Years ago, it was said that Dead Island 2 would feature a heavy emphasis on melee combat and role-playing game elements. According to Deep Silver, it will also have "never-before-seen" handcrafted weapons. The game is powered by Unreal Engine 4, and will take players to places like the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco and Venice Beach. Another previously touted feature is "seamless" multiplayer for up to eight players that can "cooperate, compete, or simply coexist." The publisher has described this as a "new-gen multiplayer experience."
However, it remains to see what might have changed throughout the game's tumultuous development. E3 2019 is coming up next month, but nothing so far has suggested that Dead Island 2 will resurface at the gaming show.