To say Dead Island 2’s development was rocky is probably an understatement. The action-RPG took nine years from reveal to launch and went through multiple studios in the process. Now, former Deep Silver head of communications Martin Wein has revealed part of what happened after the sequel was unveiled at Sony’s E3 2014 press conference. Basically, the game as it existed then “sucked,” he said.
GamesIndustry.biz reports that Wein opened up about Dead Island 2 at a Develop:Brighton panel when he was asked whether he could remember a time when marketing or player research assisted in game development. “I can actually give you an example where myself and the product team caused about an eight-year product delay,” said Wein.
Now with GameFlex Consultants, Wein stated that he and his team “were mightily proud” of Dead Island 2’s reveal trailer–seen above. The video sees a jogger going for a run on the beachfront before turning into a zombie himself. About a month after the trailer’s debut, Wein said that “we had a major milestone with the development studio that was in charge at that time. And boy, that game sucked.”
