Deep Silver parent company Koch Media announces that development on the troubled Dead Island 2 will be completed by LittleBigPlanet 3 developer Sumo Digital.

It's no secret to those that have been following Dead Island 2 that the game has had a troubled development cycle. Delayed numerous times since its announcement, and with developer Yager taken off the project, some fans may have lost faith in ever seeing the game launch. However, a new developer for Dead Island 2 has now been announced, in the form of Sumo Digital.

Sumo Digital is known for working on franchises such as Disney InfinityLittleBigPlanetForza MotorsportSonic the Hedgehog, and more. The company has proven itself in the past with these games, and if all goes well, should prove to be a valuable asset in the development of Dead Island 2.

Koch Media's CEO (Koch Media is publisher Deep Silver's parent company) Klemens Kundraditz had this to say about Sumo Digital taking over the development of Dead Island 2:

"Sumo showed so much understanding of the brand, had creative ideas and an excellent vision that was aligned with our own."

Of course, what those creative ideas are exactly remains to be seen. It's also unknown if Sumo Digital will simply finish the work that was started by Yager, or if the original vision for Dead Island 2 has been scrapped for a new game completely. If the latter is the case, fans shouldn't hold their breath about Dead Island 2 releasing in 2016, as previously claimed by Deep Silver.

Even though we might not see Dead Island 2 release this year, hopefully Sumo Digital is able to speed up the game's development, and offer fans a more substantial update soon. After all, the last Dead Island 2 gameplay trailer dropped two years ago, with fans left in the dark since then. It would be nice to see the zombie-slaying sequel in action at this year's E3 event, if not sooner.

In the meantime, those that can't wait to play Dead Island 2 can potentially satiate their appetite with the Dead Island: Definitive Collection that is releasing on new-gen consoles later this year. The Definitive Collection provides remastered versions of Dead Island and the quasi-sequel Riptide, while also offering fans a brand new experience called Retro Revenge, so it may even be worth checking out for veteran Dead Island players.

At any rate, it's good to see Dead Island 2 actually has a studio working on it again, and isn't stuck in limbo as it has been since Yager was given the boot. The game has looked promising in the past, and fans should be excited to see what Sumo Digital is able to achieve with its work on Dead Island 2.

Dead Island 2 is scheduled to release this year for PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.

Source: PC Gamer