![]() It’s easy to tell that the idea for Dying Light came from their desire to continue building on what they achieved with Dead Island. They’ve also found a new publishing partner in Warner Bros., and this time, they own the IP. Dying Light could very well be their most ambitious game in the developer’s 23 year history. This is the beginning of an exciting new chapter for Techland. ![]() Competition breeds innovation, and the pressure is on for both Yager and Techland to really prove themselves. In this case, we now get to look forward to twice as many open-world zombie games, with Dead Island 2 and Dying Light, both of which are coming in early 2015. ![]() It’s not a particularly positive story, but it is one that benefits us. ![]() Strained developer/publisher relations isn’t news, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the massive success and attention Dead Island received contributed to that tension. Making this situation worse is the rocky relationship between Techland and Deep Silver, which sounds like it could have had more lows than highs. Sounds like Techland may have been screwed. At that point, that was the best decision we could do.” If you play the game thinking that something might happen, you’re going to lose the game. It’s like playing poker: you have to make a decision with the information you have now. “At that point we weren’t really in a position to negotiate,” Binkowski explained in a revealing chat with Eurogamer, “so that was the best deal we could get. When they pitched their idea for a cooperative multiplayer sandbox game with weapon crafting and lots of zombies, they didn’t have the clout required to negotiate a “fair” deal. Techland may have come up with the concept for what would eventually become Dead Island, but Deep Silver owns the IP, so the direction it takes is ultimately up to them.īefore Dead Island put them on the map, Techland wasn’t a very well-known developer. Following the lukewarm reception of the first two games, Deep Silver decided to hand over development to another studio. This series has been a gargantuan success for Deep Silver, and a significant portion of that success rests on the shoulders of its developer.Īccording to Maciej Binkowski, a game designer at Techland, the answer is simple. Reception is important, but money is what matters and the first Dead Island sold north of five million copies. The answer could be an obvious one, seeing as this series hasn’t exactly been met with overwhelmingly positive reviews. It looked like it was being made by a completely different team, and that’s because it is.Īs much as I enjoyed the time I spent with the first Dead Island - and to a lesser degree, its pseudo-sequel Riptide - knowing Spec Ops: The Line developer Yager has the reigns gives me confidence that Dead Island 2 will be a significant step up over the last two games in the series.ĭeep Silver smartly decided to remove what wasn’t working to focus on the series’ many strengths.Įven though I love the new approach, I’ve always wondered why Techland had been replaced by Yager. Instead of another depressing trailer, we were gifted with a colorful, over-the-top zombie murder extravaganza. When Deep Silver pulled the sheet off of Dead Island 2 last month, it looked like the series had finally dropped the serious tone shared by the first to games.
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